Data centers may be located only within Service Districts with compatible land-use designations; applicant-sponsored amendments that expand a Service District or change its land-use designation are not appropriate.

Data centers may be located only in the Business Park (BP) zoning district and Planned Commercial Industrial District (PCID) overlay district, as approved on applicable Concept Development Plans.

Expansion of data-center use into other zoning districts is prohibited unless the County first conducts a comprehensive review of the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance.

Data centers should be located no more than 1 mile from an existing electric transmission line, and all new electric lines must be placed underground at the applicant’s expense.

Data centers should not be contiguous to residentially zoned land or land used or planned for a park, school, or medical-care facility, unless the applicant demonstrates measures addressing compatibility.

Data centers and related energy infrastructure should not disturb scenic viewsheds or viewsheds of National Register historic properties, and should not be located along National Scenic Byways or Virginia Scenic Byways.

A data center’s building height may not exceed the 45-foot BP/PCID maximum unless the applicant demonstrates compatibility and no adverse impact; a rezoning application seeking greater height should include a third-party-verified visual-impact analysis paid for by the applicant.

Projects adjoining property without industrial development should provide an effectively screening buffer; a 100-foot buffer is recommended, reducible to no less than 50 feet only with mature landscaping, berms, and/or screen walls.

Fencing should not exceed 10 feet, or 7 feet in any required yard, and chain-link, barbed-wire, or concertina fencing should not be used along public or private street frontages.

Site Plans should demonstrate that at least 15% of the site is preserved as natural open space.

A setback of at least 35 feet from waterbodies, wetlands, floodplains, and steep slopes, and a vegetated riparian buffer of at least 25 feet along waterbodies, wetlands, and floodplains, are strongly encouraged.

Site Plan applications must demonstrate compliance with the Zoning Ordinance’s noise limits through a professional noise study; the study must be updated within 30 days after occupancy, verified by a third party at the applicant’s expense, and account for all data-center equipment and generator operation.

Generators may not be tested between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

Applications must demonstrate and commit to meeting the County’s recycled-water requirement and must address firefighting water adequacy without impairing local private wells or public water sources.

Applications must explain how required electrical service will be provided; electrical substations must be sited and screened from outside development, and rezoning applicants should voluntarily proffer a maximum electrical load for the entire development.

Applicants should conduct at least one public outreach meeting before filing a rezoning or Site Plan application and another before any required public hearing.

Applicants must provide maximum public disclosure of information relating to data centers.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to proffer a decommissioning plan requiring removal and proper disposal of hazardous materials, generators, and mechanical equipment within one year after operations cease.

Data centers are allowed in the Business Park (BP) zoning district and Planned Commercial Industrial District (PCID) overlay district when approved through applicable Concept Development Plans.

Properties in the BP district and PCID overlay district with previously approved data center development are exempt from the policy’s siting criteria, provided the development was approved through rezoning and remains subject to its proffers and Concept Development Plan.

Expansion of data center use into other zoning districts is not prohibited outright; it may be considered after a comprehensive review of the County’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance.

The policy allows applications to be evaluated case by case based on site-specific merits, rather than requiring identical treatment of every property or project.

Building heights may exceed the 45-foot BP and PCID maximum if the applicant demonstrates compatibility with surrounding development and no adverse impact on nearby properties through a third-party-verified visual impact analysis.

For multi-building developments, larger and taller structures may be located in the interior of the property, while smaller and lower buildings are recommended near streets and nonindustrial adjoining properties.

Data centers are encouraged to use on-site solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources to meet part of their energy needs, providing an allowed pathway for on-site power generation.

Removes data centers from business park. PCID projects require a special exception and must use closed-loop or air-cooled systems and to have any power lines be underground.

Grandfathers three projects already approved or in the approval process.

In the PCID Overlay District, a data center is permitted by right only if it uses recycled water for cooling and places all new power lines, including transmission and substation-feed lines, underground.

A data center that does not use recycled water for cooling or does not place all new power lines underground requires approval by the Board of Supervisors through a special exception.

Any new structure or group of structures comprising the same development or serving the same enterprise with an aggregate footprint exceeding 50,000 square feet requires Board of Supervisors special-exception approval, which can create an additional approval requirement for large data-center facilities.

PCID development, including data centers, must be located within a service district and in a location designated for that use in the Comprehensive Plan, and must be shown in an approved Development Plan.

The amended PCID restrictions do not apply to expansions of a data center that was existing and operating in the PCID Overlay District on January 1, 2024, including expansion onto adjoining parcels under the same ownership on that date.

The amended PCID restrictions do not apply to projects for which a site plan was submitted to the County Community Development Department on or before March 14, 2024.

The amended PCID restrictions do not apply to a data-center project in Land Bay V of the approved Vint Hill Amended Concept Development Plan 2020 if the project was approved as a use on the plan or was proposed to County staff and the Board of Supervisors through a pre-application request before March 14, 2024.

In the Planned Commercial Industrial Development (PCID) Overlay District, a data center using recycled water for cooling is allowed as a principal use, provided all new power lines—including transmission and substation feed lines—are placed underground. Data Center using recycled water for cooling

A data center that does not use recycled water for cooling may still be developed in the PCID Overlay District through special-exception approval by the Board of Supervisors, provided all new power lines—including transmission and substation feed lines—are placed underground. Data Center not using recycled water for cooling

The amended PCID rules do not apply to expansions of a data center that was existing and operating in the PCID Overlay District on January 1, 2024, including expansion onto adjoining parcels under the same ownership on that date. expansions of a data center that was existing and operating

The amended PCID rules do not apply to projects for which a site plan was submitted to the County Community Development Department on or before March 14, 2024. site plan was submitted for review

The amended PCID rules do not apply to a data center project in Land Bay V of the approved Vint Hill Amended Concept Development Plan 2020 if the project was approved as a use on the plan or was presented to County staff and the Board of Supervisors through a pre-application request filed before March 14, 2024. data center project within Land Bay V