In the M-2 General Industrial District, data centers are classified as a specially permitted use and therefore require approval of a Special Use Permit (SUP) rather than proceeding solely by right.

The data-center definition expressly excludes facilities used to mine cryptocurrency, so cryptocurrency-mining facilities cannot rely on the data-center authorization.

The adopted policy states that data-center land-use applications should be consistent with the policy and that SUP conditions may be imposed to ensure consistency and mitigate negative impacts.

Data centers should be located inside the County's Primary Service Area.

Data centers should not be located within 1,000 feet of occupied dwellings or within 250 feet of historic, cultural, recreational, special-flood-hazard, or environmentally sensitive areas and resources, measured from the fenced area; setbacks, buffers, and screening should be provided.

Data centers should avoid disturbing habitat cores, habitat blocks, and corridors connecting habitat areas.

Principal access should use roads meeting VDOT standards, preferably collector or arterial roads; access from noncompliant roads, neighborhood or subdivision roads, or across railroad tracks is unacceptable, and secondary or construction access from those routes is discouraged.

Data-center structures should incorporate adaptive measures for future reuse and should include colocation spaces and resources for local server deployments, or be located near the end users they serve.

Fencing should be black vinyl-coated, limited to eight feet in height, excluded from front landscaping areas adjacent to public roads, and may not use barbed or razor wire.

Data-center components should be screened with vegetated buffers at least 50 feet wide along internal property boundaries and 100 feet wide adjacent to public rights-of-way; existing vegetation should generally be retained, the evergreen mixture should be at least 45%, and a vegetation inventory must be submitted with the site plan.

Damaged or outdated equipment containing hazardous materials should not be stored on-site unless kept in a compliant hazardous-materials container; otherwise, the applicant must provide a written storage or processing plan preventing contact with soil, groundwater, or surface water.

An SUP application should include a professional-engineer sound study meeting ISO 9613 standards, including nighttime pre-construction measurements, modeled maximum noise from all equipment and generators, mitigation recommendations, and a post-construction survey conducted between one and twelve months after the certificate of occupancy.

Data centers and ancillary equipment should not exceed the existing ambient noise level identified in the sound study or 55 decibels, whichever is greater, when measured at the property corners or proposed property lines.

Cooling equipment and backup generators should be enclosed or acoustically attenuated and screened; generators must meet or exceed EPA Tier 4 emissions standards, and routine generator testing should occur only on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Data centers should use a public water system and should not use wells for any water needs.

Applicants should consult the public water purveyor, demonstrate sufficient water capacity, incorporate recommended water-reduction measures, and submit evidence of the consultation with the initial SUP application.

Data centers should use closed-loop liquid cooling or other methods that reduce water consumption to the least practicable level.

A Water Conservation Agreement should be submitted to and approved by the applicable water purveyor, addressing cooling-system maintenance, irrigation limits, drought-tolerant landscaping, and water-conserving fixtures and appliances.

Applicants should submit energy-efficient design standards and seek to use renewable energy generated on-site or within the grid region.

The closest point of a data center should be within two miles of an existing transmission line in James City County or an adjoining locality; connections to a substation or interconnection point should be underground.

SUP applications should identify electric distribution or transmission infrastructure requiring upgrades, and new or upgraded power poles, lines, or connections should be underground.

SUP applications should include a construction-management plan covering schedule, phasing, construction hours, noise mitigation, parking, and traffic control.

SUP applications should include a landscape plan and viewshed analysis, an inventory of wetlands, Resource Protection Areas, streams, floodplains, and forested areas, a fiscal-impact analysis, and an analysis of consistency with Comprehensive Plan goals and the County's ability to provide public facilities and services.

Data-processing centers are listed as permitted uses in the M-1 Limited Business/Industrial, M-2 General Industrial, MU Mixed Use, and EO Economic Opportunity districts, allowing them to be established without a special use permit under those listings.

Data centers are expressly recognized as a use in the M-2 General Industrial District and may be approved through a special use permit, creating a defined permitting path for facilities that do not qualify under the permitted data-processing-center listing.

The data-center definition expressly covers associated operational infrastructure, including servers, backup batteries, generators, air handlers, water-cooling and storage facilities, utility substations, and other utility infrastructure.

The policy encourages data-center structures to include adaptive measures for future reuse, allowing buildings developed for data-center operations to be converted to other uses if circumstances change.

The policy encourages colocation spaces and resources for local server deployments, allowing a facility to support additional or locally deployed server operations.

The policy allows data centers to use public water systems and encourages closed-loop liquid cooling or other water-reduction methods, providing an operating framework for water service and cooling.

The policy provides an electrical-siting framework under which a data center should be located within two miles of an existing transmission line in the County or an adjoining locality, with underground connections to a substation or interconnection point.

Data centers are treated as a specially permitted use in the M-2, General Industrial Zoning District, requiring a Special Use Permit rather than being automatically allowed.

Land-use applications are expected to be consistent with the Data Facilities Policy, and the County may impose conditions on individual Special Use Permits to mitigate impacts.

Data centers should be located inside the County’s Primary Service Area.

A data center should not be located within 1,000 feet of occupied dwellings or within 250 feet of historic, cultural, recreational, special flood hazard, or environmentally sensitive areas and resources. These distances are measured from the fenced area.

Data centers should avoid disturbing habitat cores, habitat blocks, and corridors connecting habitat areas.

Principal access must not be from roads that fail VDOT standards, local roads through neighborhoods or platted subdivisions, or across railroad tracks. Collector or arterial roads are preferred, and secondary or construction access from those roads or across railroad tracks is discouraged.

Data center designs should include adaptive measures that allow future reuse of the structures.

Data centers should provide colocation space and resources for local server deployments, or be located near the end users they serve.

Building facades should comply with the Character Design Guidelines in the Comprehensive Plan.

Fencing must be black vinyl-coated, no more than 8 feet high, and cannot be placed in front landscaping areas adjacent to public roads. Barbed or razor wire is prohibited.

All data center components must be screened by vegetated buffers at least 50 feet wide inside property lines and 100 feet wide next to public rights-of-way. Existing vegetation must generally be retained, and the evergreen tree and shrub mix must be at least 45 percent.

Damaged or outdated equipment containing hazardous materials may be stored on-site only in an approved hazardous-material and chemical-storage container. Otherwise, the applicant must submit a written plan preventing contact with soil, groundwater, or surface water.

Applicants must submit an ISO 9613-compliant sound study prepared by a Virginia-licensed professional engineer, including nighttime pre-construction measurements from at least the four property corners, maximum sound modeling, mitigation recommendations, and a post-construction survey conducted between one and 12 months after the Certificate of Occupancy.

Data centers and ancillary equipment should not exceed the existing ambient noise level identified in the sound study or 55 decibels, whichever is greater, when measured from the four property corners or proposed property lines.

Cooling equipment and backup generators must be enclosed or attenuated with sound-mitigation measures and screened by a wall or similar barrier. Generators must meet at least EPA Tier 4 emissions standards, and routine testing is limited to weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Data centers should use a public water system and may not use wells for any water needs.

Applicants must consult the public water purveyor regarding sufficient capacity and submit evidence of that consultation with the initial Special Use Permit application.

Data centers should use closed-loop liquid cooling or other methods that reduce water consumption to the least possible amount.

Applicants must obtain approval of a Water Conservation Agreement addressing cooling-system maintenance, irrigation limitations, drought-tolerant landscaping, and water-conserving fixtures and appliances.

Applicants must submit energy-efficient design standards for the site and equipment.

Data centers should obtain energy from renewable systems located on-site or within the regional grid.

The closest point of a data center should be within two miles of an existing transmission line in the County or an adjoining locality, measured from the fenced area.

Electrical lines connecting the data center to a substation or point of interconnection, as well as new or upgraded power poles, lines, or connections, must be located underground.

Applications must identify existing electric distribution or transmission infrastructure that may require upgrades to serve the data center.

Special Use Permit applications must include a Construction Management Plan covering the schedule, phasing, construction hours, noise mitigation, parking, and traffic control.

Special Use Permit applications must include a Landscape Plan with existing vegetation, clearing limits, buffers, screening, plant materials and species, plus a report addressing viewshed impacts.

Special Use Permit applications must include an inventory of wetlands, Resource Protection Areas, streams, floodplains, and forested areas on the site.

Special Use Permit applications must analyze anticipated fiscal impacts on the County, including both operating and capital budget impacts.

Special Use Permit applications must explain their perceived consistency with Comprehensive Plan goals concerning the capacity and availability of existing and planned public facilities and services.

Data center facilities are expressly defined and permitted as a specially permitted use in the M-2, General Industrial Zoning District, creating an established SUP pathway for development. defined and permit Data Center Facilities in the M-2...as a specially permitted use

Principal access may be provided from local roads, although collector and arterial roads are preferred and access through neighborhoods, platted subdivisions, or across railroad tracks is not acceptable for principal access.

Data center buildings should incorporate adaptive measures for future reuse, allowing the structures to be converted or repurposed if the data center use changes.

Data centers should include colocation space and resources for local server deployments, or locate near the end users they serve, supporting continued and distributed operations.

Data centers may be located within two miles of an existing transmission line in James City County or an adjoining locality, providing a defined siting option for obtaining electrical service.

The policy allows connection to a public water system as the expected water source, giving qualifying facilities a defined utility-service pathway.

Cooling equipment and backup generators may operate if enclosed or attenuated through specified sound-mitigation measures, rather than being prohibited outright.