Data processing facilities and cryptomines are classified as high-impact land uses and may not begin construction or operate without approval through the ordinance’s authorization process.

Approval is required from both the County Administrator and the Board of Commissioners before establishing or operating a high-impact land use.

A high-impact land use must be at least 2,000 feet from protected sites, including homes, schools, day-care and assisted-living centers, nursing homes, medical centers, places of worship, recreational facilities, historic sites, and specified lakes and rivers.

Applicants must install and maintain a Board-approved vegetative barrier, dust-control surfaces, permanent paving for at least 100 feet by 20 feet from the use to a public road, and a security and visual-barrier fence around the entire area of operation.

Applicants must construct and maintain an engineered sound barrier next to protected sites, with the draft requiring noise reduction to an unspecified XX-decibel limit and allowing the Administrator to require additional sound controls or testing.

The draft imposes a peak electrical-demand limit of XX megawatts, requires annual certification from the electric utility, and treats an increase of more than 10% over the approved demand as a material modification requiring additional review.

The draft limits water use to XX gallons per day average demand and XX gallons per day peak demand, requires an engineering or hydrogeological report, and prohibits approval unless the applicant shows the project will not materially diminish local water availability.

Applicants must submit a deconstruction plan, and an abandoned high-impact use must be removed within 18 months unless the Administrator grants an extension of up to 12 months, renewable in 12-month increments.

Applicants must provide a performance guarantee equal to 125% of the estimated cost of required improvements, with extensions conditioned on good-faith progress and quarterly status updates.

A $2,500 application fee is required, and the applicant may also be charged up to $5,000 for the County’s reasonable costs of retaining outside design or industry professionals.

Applicants must obtain all required County and State permits before beginning construction.

The application must include extensive technical and ownership information, including site and impact studies, a sedimentation-control plan, a North Carolina Department of Transportation traffic-impact analysis, utility-demand estimates, utility-provider certifications, a sealed Phase 1 environmental study, a sound-profile assessment, ownership records, and a list of property owners within 2,000 feet.

Applicants must attend a pre-application conference with the Administrator before submitting an application, and the conference must be repeated if the Administrator recommends conditions.

After a complete application is received, the applicant must send written notice and an ordinance summary to all property owners within 2,000 feet.

No development authorization or permit may be issued until the approved plan and property-specific conditions are recorded with the Cherokee County Register of Deeds.

A written recommendation from a State or federal agency that an application be denied creates a presumption that approval would conflict with the County’s Comprehensive Plan and violate the County’s duty to protect public welfare.

A permit cannot be expanded or altered under the existing approval; any expansion or alteration requires a new application and a new review process.

A permit expires 180 days after notice of a violation if the use falls outside the permit’s scope, unless the permit holder restores compliance before expiration.

A lawful nonconforming high-impact use may continue but may not expand its area of operation or increase the extent of its nonconformity; it must cease being treated as nonconforming after 365 consecutive days of discontinuation.

Each day of a violation is a separate offense, and the Board may impose civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day in addition to other enforcement remedies.

The ordinance expressly allows for the placement and growth of high-impact land uses, including data processing facilities, provided they satisfy the ordinance’s requirements.

Existing lawful data-center uses that become nonconforming may continue operating, although they may not expand the area of operation or increase the nonconformity.

A nonconforming use may continue during a 180-day discontinuation period if substantial good-faith efforts are made to re-establish it; marketing the property or obtaining maintenance authorizations qualifies as such effort. The use is deemed discontinued after 365 consecutive days.

An approved high-impact land-use ordinance is intended to remain perpetually binding on the affected property unless amended or the use is abandoned, providing continuing protection for an approved facility from inconsistent future changes.

Minor modifications to an approved site plan may be approved administratively rather than through a new Board process when they do not change allowed uses, overall density, or substantially alter the development’s configuration or impacts.

A permit remains valid through its stated expiration date, and a permit violation does not immediately terminate it: the permit holder has 180 days after notice to restore compliance and have the violation notice rescinded.