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The Data Center Divide

Roanoke County

Neutral Data Center Policies

Roanoke County classifies data centers as Type I industrial uses, clarifying their zoning category. The ordinance adds no data-center-specific restrictions or financial incentives, so its practical effect appears modest.

current law · County measure
Amends Roanoke County’s Zoning Ordinance, effective immediately upon unanimous adoption on June 27, 2023, through changes addressing definitions, district regulations, and use and design standards (Ordinance 062723-3).Roanoke County Ordinance 062723-3 (2023)

What this means

The ordinance would define data centers and include them in the Type I industrial category, giving them clearer zoning classification (“data centers”). It adds no data-center-specific restrictions or financial incentives, so the practical benefit appears modest.

People behind it

  • Enacted and approved Ordinance 062723-3.

  • Moved approval of Ordinance 062723-3.

  • Seconded the motion to approve Ordinance 062723-3.

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  • Studied the proposed amendments, held a public hearing, and recommended adoption to the Board of Supervisors.

  • Worked with the Planning Commission and other County staff to develop the proposed amendments.

  • Director of Planning who presented and administered the proposed zoning amendments for the Planning Commission.

  • Zoning Administrator who prepared and presented staff recommendations concerning the industrial use-type amendments.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements6
  • Incidental retail sales associated with a data center are limited to no more than 10 percent of the building’s gross floor area.

  • Recreational facilities, day care facilities, and cafeterias or sandwich shops serving an industrial use must be available only to the industrial use’s employees.

  • Only one accessory dwelling unit may be provided, and it must be occupied by employees responsible for securing the data center.

  • A construction office or trailer associated with data-center construction must be removed within 30 days after the project’s final certificate of occupancy is issued.

  • A micro wind energy system serving an industrial use may project no more than 15 feet above the structure’s highest point and must comply with the zoning district’s height limit.

  • Additional accessory uses not otherwise listed may occupy no more than 20 percent of the floor area of a building containing a permitted industrial principal use.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions9
  • The ordinance creates a data-center definition that expressly includes supporting infrastructure such as air handlers, power generators, water-cooling and storage facilities, utility substations, and related utility infrastructure, allowing these components to be treated as part of the data-center facility. data center

  • Data centers are expressly included in the Industry, Type I use classification, which can allow them to use zoning provisions applicable to Industry, Type I where that use type is permitted. Included would be

  • Industrial use types may provide recreational facilities, employee-only day care, and employee-only cafeterias or sandwich shops as accessory uses, supporting data-center employees without requiring these facilities to be separate principal uses. Recreational facilities available only to the employees

  • An industrial use may include one accessory dwelling unit for employees responsible for site security, potentially supporting continuous data-center security operations. One accessory dwelling unit occupied by employees responsible for the security

  • The zoning administrator may approve other uses and activities necessarily and customarily associated with the purpose and function of an industrial use type, providing flexibility for data-center-related operations. Other uses and activities necessarily and customarily associated

  • A construction office or trailer may be used on an industrial site during active construction, but it must be removed within 30 days after the project's final certificate of occupancy is issued. Construction office or trailer associated with active construction

  • Industrial sites may use micro wind energy systems projecting no more than 15 feet above the structure's highest point, subject to the zoning district's height requirement, potentially providing an on-site supplemental energy option. Micro wind energy systems

  • Incidental retail sales associated with an industrial use are allowed up to 10 percent of the building's gross floor area, with no additional 3,000-square-foot cap, allowing a larger data-center-related retail component than under the prior rule. provided the square footage does not exceed ten (10) percent of the gross floor area

  • Additional accessory uses not otherwise listed may occupy up to 20 percent of the total floor area of a building containing a permitted industrial principal use, subject to approval under the ordinance. occupying not more than twenty (20) percent total of the floor area

Sources

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