Data Center/Data Storage is classified as a Light Industrial use. District use tables may prohibit it in districts with a blank entry or require limited-use standards or Special Use Permit approval where marked “L” or “SUP”; it is not generally permitted in residential or commercial districts. Data Center

Light Industrial sites must generally have at least 1 acre of land and 200 feet of lot width, with minimum setbacks of 50 feet in front and rear, 10 feet on an interior side, and 25 feet on a street side. Lot area

A Development Permit is required before excavation, construction, alteration, relocation, a change in land use or occupancy, or another regulated development activity. The activity must begin within 12 months, and the permit lapses if the activity is discontinued for 12 months or more. Development-permit requirements

Site-plan approval is required for all development activity, including individual businesses, nonresidential development, changes of use, and site-plan modifications. A building permit or certificate of occupancy generally cannot be issued until the site plan and County requirements are approved. Site plan approval requirement

A site plan is generally a Major Site Plan unless it qualifies as a Minor Site Plan. Minor-plan thresholds include no more than 10 lots or no more than 75,000 square feet of enclosed heated gross floor area, including existing buildings; Major Site Plans require Planning Board or other applicable approving-body review. Major Site Plan classification

A Traffic Impact Analysis may be required for a Major Site Plan or other applicable approval when the project is expected to generate at least 100 peak-hour vehicle trips or 1,000 vehicle trips per day. Required mitigation may include improvements, and an inadequate mitigation plan may support denial. Traffic Impact Analysis requirement

Industrial development within 100 feet of a public roadway must meet Large Scale Commercial appearance standards, including requirements for architectural drawings, exterior materials, building massing, articulation, street-facing facades, and street-network integration. Industrial appearance standards

Industrial and nonresidential development must provide required project-boundary and street buffers next to adjoining zoning districts or uses. Buffers may require planted areas, walls, fences, or berms and generally cannot contain parking, loading, buildings, or storage. Project Boundary Buffers

Light Industrial uses generally require one parking space per 1,000 square feet of enclosed floor area and one space per 5,000 square feet of outside storage or work area. Parking must meet paving, circulation, landscaping, lighting, and emergency-access standards, and more than 150% of the required parking is generally prohibited unless the excess is pervious or structured parking. Light Industrial parking requirement

Nonresidential development must submit and comply with a lighting plan when the areas proposed for illumination exceed 40,000 square feet. Fixtures generally may not exceed 40 feet, must be shielded, and may not produce more than 0.2 foot-candles at a property line adjoining residential property. Lighting-plan and illumination standards

Utility services, including electric, cable, telephone, gas, water, and sewer, must be installed underground where the infrastructure standards apply. Applicants must pay for required on-site improvements such as drainage, pavement, landscaping, and utilities. Underground utilities and improvement costs

Building permits generally cannot be issued until required infrastructure improvements are substantially complete, and certificates of occupancy cannot be issued until required improvements are completed and approved. A surety or notarized letter of credit may be accepted for incomplete improvements under a conditional certificate. Certificate-of-occupancy conditions

A certificate of occupancy or compliance cannot be issued until applicable ordinance standards and Division of Coastal Management and Division of Water Quality approvals are obtained. Certificate-of-occupancy conditions

Structures exceeding 30 feet or three stories must provide at least three means of fire-apparatus access. Structures exceeding 40 feet in height and intended for human occupancy require Fire Marshal approval before a building permit, and additional height above the I-G maximum is subject to specified yard-depth and Planning Board requirements. Fire-access and height requirements

In a Special Flood Hazard Area, a Floodplain Development Permit is required before development begins and may require surveyed elevations, engineered foundation or floodproofing plans, elevation certificates, and documentation of federal and state permits. Floodplain Development Permit

In Special Flood Hazard Areas, new construction and substantial improvements must be anchored against flotation, collapse, and lateral movement; use flood-resistant materials and methods; and place electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, and other service equipment at or above the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation or protect it from floodwater. Flood-damage-reduction standards

Where Base Flood Elevation data exists, nonresidential new construction or substantial improvements must elevate the reference level to at least the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation. In specified flood zones, certified floodproofing may substitute for elevation. Elevation and floodproofing requirements

In Approximate Zone A areas without Base Flood Elevation data, fill, new construction, substantial improvements, and other encroachments are barred within 20 feet of each side of the top of bank or five times the stream width, whichever is greater, unless a registered professional engineer provides technical data showing no increase in base-flood levels. For development exceeding five acres or 50 lots or manufactured-home sites, the applicant must provide Base Flood Elevation data.

In regulated floodways or non-encroachment areas, fill, new construction, substantial improvements, and other encroachments are prohibited unless engineering analysis demonstrates no increase in flood levels or FEMA approves a Conditional Letter of Map Revision. A Letter of Map Revision must be obtained within six months after completion. Floodway and non-encroachment restrictions

New solid-waste disposal facilities, hazardous-waste management facilities, salvage yards, and chemical-storage facilities are prohibited in Special Flood Hazard Areas unless a variance is obtained. Chemical or fuel storage incidental to an allowed use must be elevated or floodproofed to the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation and professionally certified. Floodplain restrictions on hazardous and chemical facilities

In Coastal High Hazard Areas, new construction and substantial improvements must be landward of mean high tide, comply with CAMA setbacks, and be elevated on pile or column foundations; floodproofing cannot substitute for the required elevation. Coastal high-hazard-area requirements

Data center operations must comply with federal, state, and County performance standards governing noise, vibration, odor, toxic or noxious materials, heat, glare, and electromagnetic interference; noise may not exceed reasonable levels on adjoining lands or waters. Operational performance standards

Violations may result in permit revocation, denial or withholding of additional permits while the violation remains uncorrected, a $100 civil penalty for each day after notice, and a criminal misdemeanor penalty of up to $500. Enforcement remedies and penalties

Data centers are classified as a Light Industrial use and are permitted in the I-G Industrial-General District without requiring a special-use-permit designation.

A data center project meeting the Minor Site Plan thresholds, including no more than 75,000 square feet of enclosed heated gross floor area, may receive final site-plan action from the Planning Director instead of undergoing the major-site-plan process. The Director may refer the application to the Planning Board.

The Planned Development option allows flexibility for an eligible data center project, including no minimum acreage requirement, phased development, and possible modification of minimum lot-width and yard standards. The project must use only uses permitted in the underlying district and applicable C-LD and N-C districts.

A building-shell permit may be issued before required infrastructure is substantially complete or all outside-agency approvals are received if a recorded Development Plan Agreement or Development Agreement limits the permit to the shell, emergency access is provided, no additional permits are issued before infrastructure completion, and the applicant certifies that infrastructure will be completed at least 30 days before building completion.

Development approvals under Chapter 160D attach to and run with the land rather than the applicant or owner, allowing them to continue if the data-center property is transferred.

An approved site plan remains valid for three years and runs with the land. It may remain valid thereafter while construction or development is actively pursued, but expires if activity is discontinued for more than 180 calendar days.

When a proposal complies with the ordinance, the Zoning Administrator must issue a conforming development permit. Development receiving Site Plan, Special Use Permit, or Planned Development approval is automatically deemed to satisfy the development-permit requirement, and the development-permit application may be submitted concurrently with the building-permit application.

Approved site-specific vesting plans generally receive a three-year zoning vested right, potentially extendable to five years; qualifying multiphase developments receive seven years. The vested right runs with the property and may be exercised by successors, protecting the approved development from otherwise applicable zoning changes during the vesting period.

The Planning Director may approve an administrative adjustment reducing a required front, side, or rear setback by up to 10 percent, and may approve minor site-plan adjustments, if required compatibility, neighborhood-impact, consistency, and hardship findings are made.

Existing conforming or legally nonconforming commercial structures are treated as meeting buffering, landscaping, and parking requirements when the zoning district allows the proposed use and planned improvements increase the structure's value by no more than 50 percent.

A development permit remains effective for 12 months after issuance and does not lapse unless permitted activities have not commenced within that period or have been discontinued for 12 months or more.