The Data Center Divide
A policy snapshot ahead of the 2026 midterms. Mapping data center incentives, restrictions, and bans through legislation, regulations, and executive actions across all 50 states and 1,462 local jurisdictions.
Madison County
Anti-Data Center Policies
Madison County allows small data processing facilities in commercial districts and large ones in industrial districts, subject to requirements for height, access, security, screening, wiring, signage, and noise.
current law · County measureMadison County approved recommendations on May 14, 2024, to amend its Land Use Ordinance and regulate data processing facilities before the county’s one-year moratorium expired, supporting economic and technological development while controlling effects on neighboring properties (approved recommendations).Madison County Land Use Ordinance — Data Processing Facility Amendments (2024) — Madison County Board of Commissioners / Development Services Director Brad Guth
What this means
The measure allows data processing facilities, with small facilities allowed in commercial districts and large ones in industrial districts (small facilities would be permitted in Commercial districts). But height limits, screening, underground wiring, and noise requirements add meaningful design and operating burdens (requirements related to height, use separation, access, security fencing, screening, utility notification, signage and noise).
People behind it
- Madison County
Applicant for the rezoning of the Madison County Industrial Park and for the amendment restructuring the Board of Adjustment.
- Madison County Economic Development
Co-applicant for the rezoning of the Madison County Industrial Park from Residential-Agricultural to Industrial.
- Brad Guth
Development Services Director and representative for Madison County and Madison County Economic Development; prepared staff findings reports and wrote the data-processing-facility regulation resolution.
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- Greg Bryant
Applicant who proposed the text amendment to allow commercial storage buildings in the Residential-Agricultural district.
- Larry Leake
Representative for Greg Bryant in the commercial-storage text-amendment application.
- Russell Blevins
Applicant and representative who proposed eliminating the 50-foot setback requirement in the Mountain Ridge Protection Ordinance.
- MCS Corp of Pinellas, Inc.
Applicant for the special-use permit to develop four vacation-rental cabins.
- Joseph McNally
Co-owner and applicant associated with MCS Corp of Pinellas, Inc. for the four-cabin vacation-rental proposal.
- Bonnie McNally
Co-owner and applicant associated with MCS Corp of Pinellas, Inc. for the four-cabin vacation-rental proposal.
- Madison County Planning Board
Reviewed and recommended ordinance amendments, including the data-processing-facility regulations, and acted on the rezoning, text-amendment, and special-use applications.
- Madison County Board of Commissioners
Legislative body responsible for adopting land-use amendments and unanimously approved the data-processing-facility regulation changes.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements8
A one-year moratorium on cryptocurrency and data-processing operations was imposed beginning June 13, 2023, temporarily preventing such facilities while the county developed regulations.
Data-processing facilities are limited by size and zoning district: small facilities, defined as having less than 10,000 square feet of server space, are permitted in Commercial districts, while large facilities are permitted in Industrial districts.
Facilities must comply with additional land-use requirements addressing height, use separation, application submittals, site access, security fencing, screening, utility notification, signage, and noise.
Facility structures may not exceed 35 feet in height.
The facility perimeter must include screening or a buffer strip separating the facility from adjoining properties.
Security fencing must be at least 8 feet high.
All electric wiring must be installed underground.
Facilities are subject to the Madison County noise ordinance and may not disrupt activities on adjacent properties.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions2
Small data processing facilities—defined as having less than 10,000 square feet of server space—are permitted in Commercial districts, allowing them to be established without a special-use approval.
Large data processing facilities are permitted in Industrial districts, providing an expressly authorized zoning location for larger facilities.
Sources
Specific to Madison County only.
expired · County measureAdopts a 12-month moratorium on data-processing-facility development to allow Madison County to evaluate suitable locations, operating conditions, land-use amendments, and potential impacts, while avoiding incompatible development.Madison County Limited Moratorium on Data Processing Facilities (2023) — Madison County Board of Commissioners / County Manager Rod Honeycutt
What this means
The measure would pause construction and expansion of data processing facilities across the county’s listed zoning districts for 12 months, making it a major short-term barrier. It does not expressly ban ongoing operation, and it includes exceptions for certain projects with prior approvals or accepted applications, but the pause still fits the score for a temporary moratorium.
Timing
- Ends
- 12 months from the date of adoption
The limited moratorium applies to development in the listed zoning districts. The County Commissioners may renew or extend it as necessary under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-107(e), or terminate it earlier. The ordinance also identifies exclusions from the moratorium.
People behind it
- Chairman Matt Wechtel
Moved adoption of the Limited Moratorium Ordinance on Data Processing Facilities.
- Commissioner Alan Wyatt
Seconded the motion to adopt the Limited Moratorium Ordinance on Data Processing Facilities.
- Madison County Board of Commissioners
Adopted and enacted the Limited Moratorium Ordinance on Data Processing Facilities.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements3
A 12-month moratorium applies to data-center-related development throughout Madison County in the AO, RA, R-1, R-2, N-C, CMU, C/CD, and I districts. It prohibits construction, alteration, repair, movement, demolition, excavation, grading, clearing, subdivision, or changes in land use or intensity for a defined Data Processing Facility, and prohibits consideration, approval, or denial of related development approvals during the moratorium. The County Commissioners may renew, extend, or end the moratorium early; a project-specific waiver is available only if the applicant demonstratively shows that public health, safety, or welfare requires it.
The moratorium does not apply, absent an imminent threat to public health or safety, to complete special-use applications already accepted, approved site-specific vesting plans, projects with substantial good-faith expenditures under a prior valid approval, subdivision plans already accepted for review, repairs governed by the State Building Code, or ADA-required site improvements for existing data-processing facilities. Applications submitted before the moratorium remain subject to North Carolina's permit-choice rules when processing resumes.
Outside the moratorium's exclusions, the Land Use Ordinance requires a certificate of zoning compliance before any building or other structure may be erected, moved, added to, or structurally altered, and the certificate may be issued only if the proposal conforms to the applicable zoning district's requirements.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions10
The moratorium does not apply to a project for which a special use permit application was accepted as complete before the moratorium took effect.
The moratorium does not apply to development covered by an approved site-specific vesting plan.
The moratorium does not apply when substantial expenditures were already made in good-faith reliance on a prior valid development approval.
The moratorium does not apply to sketch plans or preliminary or final subdivision plats accepted for review before the hearing was called to adopt the moratorium.
The moratorium does not apply to repairs to existing buildings regulated by the North Carolina State Building Code.
The moratorium does not apply to ADA-required site improvements for existing data processing facilities.
If a complete development application was submitted before the moratorium took effect, the applicant may choose which version of the development regulations applies if the regulations change before processing resumes.
The County Commissioners may waive the moratorium for a specific development project if the applicant can demonstrate that a waiver is required to protect public health, safety, or welfare.
The moratorium lasts twelve months unless renewed or extended under North Carolina law, and the County Commissioners may terminate it earlier.
The moratorium prohibits development in the listed AO, RA, R-1, R-2, N-C, CMU, C, and I districts, but does not list the R-B Retail Business District among the affected districts.
Sources
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