Commercial cryptocurrency data centers must obtain a conditional use permit before construction or modification beyond routine maintenance. The application is subject to the county’s conditional-use procedures and any required zoning-map amendment, platting, or variance.

Conditional-use applications require review by the Planning and Zoning Commission, a public hearing, and approval by the Board of County Commissioners. Applications generally must be complete and submitted by the first business day of the month, with public notice and advance notice to adjacent landowners and affected townships.

Uses not listed as permitted or conditional in a zoning district are prohibited unless the zoning ordinance is amended; data-center applications may therefore require an ordinance or zoning-map amendment if the proposed use is not otherwise authorized.

A data-center application must include a $6,500 base fee per site, an engineer’s consulting fee, conditional-use and building-permit fees, and any other fees set by the Board of County Commissioners.

Applicants must submit extensive information, including a project narrative, processing capacity, expected water and electricity needs, a scaled site plan, a one-mile sensitive-property map, water-related applications or plans, a signed electrical power purchase agreement, and documentation showing compliance with state and federal requirements.

Applicants must provide an acoustical-engineer study describing baseline and anticipated noise and proposed mitigation. The county may hire its own engineer to review the study at the applicant’s expense.

Data centers must be separated by at least three miles from single-family and multifamily dwellings, schools, animal-production facilities or feedlots, churches and similar religious institutions, and public parks. They must also be at least three miles from any lawfully existing data center and from residential areas and incorporated cities or towns.

Buildings, structures, and appurtenances at a data-center site may not exceed 40 feet in height.

All electrical wiring must be buried at least 24 inches underground, except at interconnections, and must comply with North Dakota electrical requirements.

The entire facility perimeter must have a security fence at least six feet high. The fence must also comply with the ordinance’s solar-facility fencing standards, which require an eight-foot fence with at least three strands of barbed wire above it.

Sound buffering is required around the entire data-center perimeter, with the specific buffering determined by the Planning and Zoning Board.

Exterior lighting must use county-approved fixtures, minimize off-site glare, and be limited to what is necessary for safety and security unless additional lighting is specifically approved.

Access roads serving a data center must maintain a 3,400-foot setback from residences and schools. Road construction or improvements require approval from the county highway authority, and a road-maintenance agreement is required during construction or qualifying modifications.

Data-center operations may not produce more than 50 dBA during the day or 45 dBA at night at an occupied residence or other defined sensitive receiver, measured over a 15-minute interval. Additional limits apply to pure tones.

Each commercial cryptocurrency-mining operation must post visible 24-hour emergency-contact signage at the access entrance, including company, owner or representative, local power-company, and telephone information.

A fire-suppression system capable of handling electrical, oil, and natural-gas fires must be installed and approved by the Fire Marshal, together with a certified fire plan.

Applicants must provide an emergency-response plan to specified county and local emergency agencies, train the local fire department at the applicant’s expense, and obtain final approval of the plan from the Planning and Zoning Commission.

A data-center applicant must provide a reclamation bond of at least $1.5 million.

Water cooling must use a county- and state-approved water source or require a North Dakota Department of Water Resources permit, taking into account water volume and environmental effects on local supplies.

Data centers must comply with the ordinance’s storm-drainage, erosion-control, grading, and drainage requirements.

If a data-center improvement reaches the end of its useful life or is not actively and continuously operated for a reasonable period, it must be removed at the owner’s expense. Decommissioning requires an engineer-supported cost estimate, inflation adjustments every five years, financial security before building permits, and restoration of affected agricultural land unless otherwise approved.

A data center located solely at an oil and gas well site or underground gathering-pipeline facility under the exclusive jurisdiction of the North Dakota Industrial Commission is exempt from the specific commercial-data-center provisions.

Before a building permit can be issued, data-center construction must comply with the North Dakota State Building Code and the county’s building-permit requirements.

Data centers located solely on an oil-and-gas well site or underground gathering-pipeline facility are exempt from the data-center rules when those facilities are subject to the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction. Data centers solely located on an oil and gas well site are covered by this exemption.

The ordinance establishes a conditional-use-permit pathway for constructing or installing a data center, rather than requiring an ordinance change in every case. The application must follow the conditional-use procedures and satisfy the additional data-center requirements, including studies, site plans, applicable state and federal permits, and utility documentation. Applications for the installation or construction of a data center are governed by this process.

Routine maintenance of a lawfully existing data center does not trigger the data-center application requirement; the conditional-use procedures apply to modifications beyond routine maintenance. Modifications to a lawfully existing data center beyond routine maintenance require the additional review.

A lawful data-center use that later becomes inconsistent with the ordinance may continue as a nonconforming use. The use may not be enlarged, expanded, or extended, and it loses nonconforming status if it ceases for more than 24 months. The lawful existence or use of such non-conformities may continue even though it does not conform to the ordinance.