A zoning permit is required for data-center development because all land development requires one unless specifically exempted.

Data centers are allowed by right only in districts where the use table lists them as permitted: Urban Center, Village Center, Service Center, Neighborhood Center, Institutional, and Industrial.

In the Mixed Use Neighborhood District, a computer data center is allowed only as a conditional use and is limited to 3,000 square feet.

Data centers are not listed as allowed uses in the Residential Neighborhood, Rural Residential, Rural, or Waterfront districts and are prohibited there unless the Administrative Officer determines the use is materially similar to a listed use or state or federal law requires it to be allowed.

Data-center development generally requires site plan approval from the Administrative Officer or Development Review Board.

A data center treated as a conditional use requires Development Review Board approval after a public hearing and must satisfy applicable review criteria, including compatibility, traffic, municipal services, cumulative impacts, and regulatory conformance.

District dimensional standards restrict where data centers may be built. For example, the Industrial District requires at least a 3-acre lot and 180 feet of frontage, limits coverage to 60%, and imposes substantial setbacks; other districts have their own lot, frontage, coverage, setback, footprint, and height requirements.

Data-processing or similar office-like uses generally require at least one parking space per 900 square feet of gross floor area, except that the Urban Center District has no minimum parking requirement.

The Development Review Board may not approve more than twice the minimum required parking unless a professionally prepared parking study demonstrates that the additional parking is necessary. Shared or off-site parking generally must be approved, be within 600 feet, and be secured by a recorded agreement lasting at least 20 years.

Projects creating more than 40 resident or employee parking spaces must provide at least one electric-vehicle charging station per 20 spaces.

Nonresidential data-center development must meet stormwater requirements. Projects creating less than 15,000 square feet of impervious surface must use specified low-impact or green-stormwater measures, while projects creating 15,000 square feet or more must submit a professional plan managing one inch of rainfall from all impervious surfaces.

Data-center operations must comply with nonresidential performance standards limiting off-site noise, glare, odors, vibration, electrical or radio interference, waste hazards, airborne solids, and hazardous-substance releases.

Outdoor lighting must comply with fixture-shielding, lamp-type, total-lumen, light-trespass, and time-limit rules. Major site plan applications involving outdoor lighting must include a plan prepared by a professional lighting engineer or designer.

Major data-center projects must provide required buffers, screening, landscaping, and parking-lot landscaping. Service areas, equipment, utilities, loading areas, and outdoor storage generally must be screened, and parking lots must provide tree canopy covering at least 50% of the parking area.

The town may require applicants to pay for independent technical or legal reviews, periodic monitoring or inspections, and performance bonds or similar surety for required improvements.

A certificate of compliance is required before a new principal data-center building may be occupied, used, or commenced, and the town may require inspections and documentation such as as-built drawings, stormwater permits, energy certificates, access permits, or fire-department inspections.

A zoning permit and associated Development Review Board approval generally expire two years after taking effect unless construction or the approved use has commenced, substantial construction is complete, or the Administrative Officer grants one extension of no more than 12 months for good cause.

An approved zoning permit does not take effect until the 16th day after issuance if no appeal is filed, so development cannot begin during the 15-day appeal period. Development Review Board decisions may be appealed to the Environmental Division within 30 days, and the approved use or development cannot begin until the appeal is resolved.

Computer data centers are permitted uses in the Urban Center, Village Center, Service Center, Neighborhood Center, and Industrial districts, allowing them to be established without conditional-use approval, subject to applicable site-plan and dimensional requirements (computer data center listed as a permitted use).

Computer data centers up to 3,000 square feet are allowed as conditional uses in the Mixed Use Neighborhood district, and computer data centers are conditional uses in the Institutional district; these uses require Development Review Board approval (Computer data center, up to 3,000 sf).

Permitted uses generally require only an administrative zoning permit, although permitted uses other than single-unit and two-unit homes may also require site-plan approval (requires only an administrative permit).

In the Industrial District, industrial structures are exempt from the general 35-foot height limit, subject to other applicable standards and review requirements (Industrial structures within the Industrial District).

Parking for research, development, data processing, and similar office-like uses is set at one space per 900 square feet of gross floor area (1 per 900 sf of GFA).

The Development Review Board may reduce required parking based on a professional parking study, shared parking, or adequate on-street or public parking within one-quarter mile. Shared or off-site parking may be within 600 feet if pedestrian access is provided and a recorded agreement lasting at least 20 years secures the spaces (may reduce the amount of off-street parking required).

The Urban Center district has no minimum parking or loading requirements, although provided parking and loading must meet applicable design and location standards (There are no minimum parking or loading requirements).

Telecommunications equipment and related site development with a footprint of no more than 300 square feet and a height of no more than 10 feet does not require a zoning permit (footprint of 300 square feet and a height of 10 feet).

Land development that receives a Certificate of Public Good from the Public Service Board does not require a zoning permit, including a grid-connected small renewable energy system (receives a Certificate of Public Good).

Minimum lot-size and frontage requirements do not apply to lots housing utility facilities, although the facilities must meet other applicable standards, including site-security and buffering requirements (Minimum lot size and frontage requirements will not apply).

A lawfully existing data-center use may continue indefinitely despite later zoning changes, and a nonconformity may continue unchanged indefinitely, subject to the regulations governing expansions or changes (A nonconformity may continue to exist unchanged indefinitely).

A lawfully issued zoning permit remains valid under the regulations in effect when issued, provided the project is substantially completed or extended before expiration. Complete applications are reviewed under the regulations in effect when the application was determined complete (An application will be reviewed based on the regulations in effect).

Previously approved subdivision plats remain valid and do not expire despite later zoning changes, supporting established sites or campuses created through subdivision (the plat will remain valid and will not expire).