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Regbase

The Data Center Divide

McLean County

Slightly Pro-Data Center Policies

McLean County rezoned 800 acres for commercial use, expressly allowing data-center outlots and making development easier. Commercial activity may be denied without adequate fire protection, and some on-site waste handling may be prohibited.

Rating from North Dakota statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for McLean County.

Specific to McLean County only.

current law · County measure: Areas under McLean County jurisdiction
Rezoning approximately 800 acres from agricultural to commercial use allows Rainbow Energy Center, LLC to continue energy generation and divide the property into commercial outlots for data centers or other businesses, subject to required county building permits.McLean County Coal Creek data center park rezoning (2025)

What this means

The county approved rezoning 800 acres from agricultural to commercial, expressly allowing outlots for data centers, which makes development easier (“outlots for data centers”). The county can still deny commercial activity if adequate fire protection is unavailable and may prohibit certain on-site waste handling, so the benefit comes with conditions (“adequate fire protection or suppression”).

Timing

Ends
up to 24 months after issuance

The zoning ordinance authorizes the County to impose a written moratorium for up to 24 months on siting or building new electrical power transmission lines or electrical or energy-generation facilities. The sources do not show that a specific moratorium was enacted or provide an issuance date.

People behind it

  • Adopted the zoning ordinance and is responsible for administering and enforcing it as the Board of Adjustment.

  • Administers zoning affairs, conducts required hearings, and recommends approval or denial of applications and permits.

  • Administers the ordinance, maintains zoning records and maps, publishes hearing notices, conducts compliance inspections, and issues specified permits and certificates.

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  • Shares responsibility for administering and enforcing the ordinance, including maintaining records, publishing notices, and processing applications and permits.

  • Responsible for pursuing enforcement actions and remedies for violations of the ordinance.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements11

  • On the 800 acres rezoned for Rainbow Energy Center, the county may deny commercial activity if adequate fire protection or fire suppression cannot be provided.

  • On the 800-acre commercial area rezoned for Rainbow Energy Center, the county may prohibit on-site waste storage or disposal that requires permitting by the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.

  • Construction, alteration, or use of a data center or other new or altered use requires a county building permit before work or use begins. The permit must be posted during construction, and failure to obtain one is an infraction subject to a fine of up to $500.

  • A building permit is valid for one year. If construction is incomplete when it expires, each successive replacement permit costs 1.5 times the amount paid for the prior permit.

  • An approved zoning change automatically expires if the approved use has not begun within one year after final county approval, after which the property reverts to its prior classification.

  • Zoning amendments needed to establish or expand a commercial data-center site require a public hearing, recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Commission, final approval by the Board of County Commissioners, and publication of the approval.

  • A person may petition for a separate county hearing on a zoning amendment within 30 days after its first publication, potentially delaying the amendment's effectiveness until the petition process is completed.

  • New electrical power transmission lines and electrical or energy-generation facilities may be subject to a county moratorium of up to 24 months while the county studies their effects on public health, safety, agriculture, the environment, wildlife, and other public interests.

  • Electrical power transmission lines are conditional uses in agricultural and industrial districts and require county approval; transmission tie lines over 115 kilovolts generally must follow quarter-section lines unless the County Commission approves another route.

  • Conditional uses require a public hearing before approval and may require site descriptions, surveys, preliminary structure maps, topographic and soil information, utility and parking plans, construction schedules, agency plans, adjacent-owner information, road-use plans, reclamation requirements, or financial assurance.

  • A conditional use permit may automatically expire if the approved use has not begun within one year after final County Commission approval.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions2

  • The County approved rezoning approximately 800 acres from agricultural to commercial, expressly allowing the land to be divided into outlots for data centers or other commercial businesses and to support continued power generation. Construction remains subject to required county building permits, and the County may deny commercial activity if adequate fire protection or suppression is unavailable or prohibit on-site waste storage or disposal requiring Department of Environmental Quality permitting.

  • The zoning ordinance allows activities in commercial districts that require a business or professional license or a state sales-tax permit, providing a permitted-use pathway for commercial operations that meet those licensing or tax requirements.

Sources

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