Data centers are classified as Extensive Impact Facilities and are permitted only in I-2 Heavy Industrial or I-3 Special Industrial districts; development elsewhere requires rezoning or is not allowed.

Data-center sites must meet industrial dimensional limits, including at least one acre, a minimum 150-foot lot width, maximum 50 percent building coverage, and maximum 50-foot building height. I-2 districts require a 50-foot front setback and 20-foot side and rear setbacks, or 50-foot side and rear setbacks adjoining residential districts; I-3 districts require a 75-foot front setback, 25-foot side and rear setbacks, or 50-foot side and rear setbacks adjoining residential districts.

Industrial data-center development requires Planning Commission site-plan review. Generally, 12 copies must be submitted at least 10 days before the review meeting, and incomplete submissions may be returned without action.

Site-plan approval expires after one year if a building permit has not been issued and lapses if construction has not begun within two years, unless the site is reapproved.

A data-center site plan must provide detailed information on buildings, utilities, fire hydrants, drainage, flooding, access, parking, loading, vegetation, slopes, soils, signs, screening, and lighting.

Data-center lighting must be shielded, may not exceed 0.5 foot-candles at a residential-district boundary or street right-of-way, and may not interfere with vehicle operation. Operations may not transmit electrical disturbances across property lines.

A traffic-impact study may be required for a nonresidential data center exceeding 50,000 square feet, a project expected to generate at least 1,000 daily vehicle trips or 100 peak-hour trips, or any project the County Engineer determines requires one. The Planning Commission must approve the study and applicable requirements must be incorporated into the plans.

Traffic improvements required by the study that are not funded or completed by the County must be completed by the developer before occupancy. The developer may also owe a pro-rata contribution, and required improvements must be bonded before the building permit is issued.

Data-center sites must provide required landscaping and buffer screening, which can include an unbroken 30-foot or 40-foot open-space strip with specified trees and shrubs when adjoining lower-intensity, commercial, or residential districts. Required landscaping must be completed before an occupancy permit is issued.

A zoning or building permit is required before constructing, placing, enlarging, altering, moving, excavating for, filling, or beginning land use for a data center or its accessory structures. A certificate of occupancy is required before the building or land may be occupied or used.

A building permit becomes invalid if permitted work does not begin within six months or if work is suspended or discontinued for one year.

Land-disturbing data-center development must comply with erosion, sedimentation, runoff, and stormwater controls. A separate land-disturbance permit is required when grading or filling changes surface-water flow or alters or relocates a ditch, drain, canal, or watercourse; fill may not include construction or demolition debris.

Approved post-construction stormwater best-management practices, erosion controls, and landscaping must be maintained in perpetuity.

Data centers in designated flood-hazard areas require a development permit and must meet flood-resistant construction, elevation or floodproofing, utility-protection, drainage, and certification requirements. Development in a regulatory floodway is prohibited unless qualified engineering analysis shows no increase in flood levels or floodway widths, with FEMA approval required for certain encroachments.

Industrial or manufacturing uses must provide at least one off-street parking space for every two employees during maximum production, with at least five spaces, plus loading spaces based on floor area. Industrial parking must be paved, lined, and marked.

The Planning Commission site-plan application fee is $120, with additional building-permit fees set separately by the County Commission.

If rezoning is required, the application must include ownership, legal-description, adjacent-owner, mapping, fee, and public-notice information. Rezoning requires Planning Commission review and a County Commission public hearing with at least 15 days' published notice, along with listed application, sign, certified-mail, and archive fees.

Data centers are expressly defined and classified as Extensive Impact Facilities, including associated backup power, cooling, battery storage, substations, and security infrastructure.

Data centers are permitted uses in I-2 Heavy Industrial and I-3 Special Industrial districts, rather than conditional uses, providing a specified zoning path for development. They are not permitted in other zoning areas.

I-2 and I-3 districts provide development standards applicable to data centers, including a minimum one-acre lot, up to 50% lot coverage, a maximum 50-foot building height, and required setbacks that increase when the property borders a residential district.

For additions or accessory structures of no more than 500 square feet on previously approved or preexisting commercial or industrial sites, the Planning Commission may allow the Building Commissioner to waive site-plan requirements.

A lawfully established data-center use may continue if a later zoning amendment makes it nonconforming, and incidental alterations are allowed. The use must not have been illegal when established, and the continuation right ends after 30 continuous months of discontinuance.