Data centers are allowed only in zoning districts marked as permitted in Table 6.1; a blank entry means the use is not permitted unless another ordinance provision expressly allows it. Permitted uses remain subject to all other zoning regulations. Table 6.1 use classifications

Before constructing, altering, moving, occupying, or using a data-center building or site, the owner must obtain the required zoning-approved building permit. No land shall be used, occupied, or excavated

A Certificate of Use is required before a data center may be used or occupied, and before a change of tenancy or ownership; the certificate confirms compliance with the Zoning Ordinance. It shall be unlawful to use, occupy, or permit the use

Data centers in PD, NC, POD, or FRD districts require site-plan review and approval before permits are issued. Site-plan approvals are valid for one year; if no permit is issued during that period, a new site-plan review is required. A site plan meeting the requirements

Data centers classified under the ordinance's warehouse, flex-space, or data-center parking category must provide at least one parking space per 500 square feet for the first 3,000 square feet, and one space per 2,500 square feet thereafter. Warehousing, Flex Space, and Data Center Uses

A nonresidential data-center use next to residential property or a residential zoning district must provide a six-foot visual screen and, generally, a buffer. The buffer is 25 feet for properties of at least 10 acres, 12.5 feet for properties of at least 5 but less than 10 acres, and 5 feet for properties over 2 but less than 5 acres; properties of 2 acres or less are exempt from the buffer requirement. Screening must be provided

New data-center parking lots with at least 10 spaces and adjacent to an existing public right-of-way must provide roadside landscaping, including an average of one tree per 60 linear feet of road frontage and evergreen shrubs forming a continuous screen within three years. Lots with at least 60 spaces must also provide interior planting areas with one tree per 15 spaces and one shrub per 5 spaces. All new off-street parking lots with ten or more spaces

If a data-center project requires rezoning, it must undergo public notice and a County Council public hearing, Planning Commission review and recommendation, and final County Council action. No amendment to the Zoning Ordinance text or map

Rezoning applications initiated by private parties incur application fees. The listed fees range from $70 to $350 for single-family districts, $205 to $500 for multifamily districts, $270 to $600 for nonresidential districts, and $650 for PD or $750 for FRD; text amendments cost $100 and site-plan review costs $75. Table 3.1 Rezoning Fee Schedule

After County Council denies a rezoning request, the same or a less restrictive rezoning request for the same property generally cannot be considered for one year. If the applicant withdraws after legal public-hearing advertising, a new application for the same property generally cannot be considered for six months. it shall not consider the same or a less restrictive reclassification

Expansion of a legally established nonconforming data-center use requires express review by the Board of Zoning Appeals. A nonconforming use that stops for six continuous months generally cannot resume, and a nonconforming structure damaged by fire or other causes must have reconstruction substantially begun within 12 months to retain the prior use. Nonconforming uses of land existing

In Airport Protective areas, data-center structures and related equipment may be subject to airport height limits, permit requirements, FAA review, obstruction marking or lighting, and restrictions against interference with aircraft operations. no structure shall be erected

A variance cannot be used to establish a data-center use that is otherwise prohibited in the zoning district; variances are limited to dimensional requirements and require findings of extraordinary property conditions, unnecessary hardship, and no substantial detriment to adjacent property or the public good. The Board may not grant a variance

Data centers are expressly listed as a use in Table 6.1 and are marked “P” in the districts where permitted, meaning they may be established by right in those districts rather than requiring special-exception approval, subject to other applicable regulations. (Data Centers)

The ordinance provides a specific parking standard for data centers: at least one space per 500 square feet of leasable floor area for the first 3,000 square feet, and one space per 2,500 square feet thereafter. This is less intensive than the general office standard of three spaces per 1,000 square feet. (Warehousing, Flex Space, and Data Center Uses)

If a data center is developed in a PD, NC, POD, or FRD district, approved site plans are subject to the County’s Vested Rights Ordinance, which can protect the approved development from later changes in applicable regulations, subject to that ordinance’s requirements. (subject to the provisions of the County’s Vested Rights Ordinance)