In areas under county zoning jurisdiction, construction, relocation, enlargement, conversion, or structural alteration of a building or structure generally requires a regular zoning permit, and establishing a principal or accessory use also requires a permit unless specifically exempted. Section 82-132 requires regular zoning permits

A data center is not specifically listed as a principal use. The Planning, Zoning and Land Information Director must determine whether an unclassified use is similar to a listed use; if no similar determination is made, the proposal may be referred to the Planning, Zoning and Farmland Preservation Committee for conditional-use-permit processing. Section 82-21 addresses uses not listed

If a data center is treated as a conditional use, it requires a conditional use permit, a public hearing, and written findings that the use will not be contrary to the public interest or detrimental to public health, safety, or the surrounding area. Conditional-use permits require a public hearing

A conditional-use permit may be denied based on factors including effects on property values, consistency with comprehensive plans, water and sewage capacity, noise, dust, odor, traffic, emergency services, drainage, visual impacts, lighting, and changes to natural features; conditions may also be imposed. Section 82-133 lists conditional-use review criteria

If classified as a site-plan-review use, the data center must submit utility, landscaping, erosion and sediment control, stormwater, and lighting plans. The application is reviewed through an Ad Hoc Site Plan Review Committee process with notice to adjoining owners within 500 feet; if agreement is not reached, the Planning, Zoning and Farmland Preservation Committee may impose conditions or deny the application. Site-plan-review applications require additional plans

Expansion or intensification of a conditional-use or site-plan-review data center requires the same approval process, unless the expansion does not increase the use's scale or intensity, in which case only a regular zoning permit is required. Expansion of a conditional use requires a permit

Development must comply with the applicable zoning district's minimum lot-width, lot-area, setback, height, and impervious-surface standards. Maximum impervious-surface ratios vary by district, including 15% in Natural Area, 25% in several agricultural and residential districts, 35% in High Density Residential, 50% in Mixed Use Commercial, and up to 75% in Commercial Center, Light Industrial, and Industrial districts. All development must meet district requirements

Structures generally must be set back 125 feet from the centerline of state or federal roads, 100 feet from county roads, and 75 feet from town roads. Limited setback averaging may apply where nearby principal buildings are closer, but the setback cannot be reduced to less than 10 feet from the road right-of-way. Section 82-31 establishes road setbacks

A new building must be located on a legal lot of record, have access to a public road, and newly created lots must meet required road frontage or qualify as an approved flag lot. Section 82-30 requires a legal lot and road access

Filling, grading, ditching, or excavating requires a regular zoning permit when it exceeds 2,000 square feet on slopes below 12%, exceeds 1,000 square feet on slopes from 12% to 20%, or occurs on slopes over 20%, subject to listed exemptions such as an erosion-control permit or work incidental to an authorized zoning permit. Section 82-38 sets filling and grading thresholds

Required off-street parking must be provided on the same or an adjoining lot, with spaces generally at least 9 feet wide by 18 feet long. Parking areas must meet setbacks, avoid vision-clearance triangles, have an all-weather surface, provide drainage, and direct lighting away from adjacent streets and residences. Parking areas must satisfy location and design standards

Commercial, industrial, or institutional development adjoining residentially zoned property must provide a landscape buffer unless the principal building and outdoor storage areas are at least 300 feet from the nearest lot line. Required buffers generally must include at least 10 evergreen trees or 15 deciduous trees per 100 linear feet, or an approved combination. Landscape buffers apply next to residential uses

In mapped wetlands, uses not specifically authorized by the wetland provisions are prohibited unless the wetland or affected portion is rezoned. The wetland rules apply in addition to the underlying zoning district and the more restrictive requirement controls. Unlisted wetland uses are prohibited

New structures requiring excavation in designated escarpment or bluff areas generally must be at least 125 feet from both the base and ridgeline of the slope. A variance requires a geotechnical study addressing erosion, falling material, and slope stability for at least 77 years. Escarpment and bluff setbacks are 125 feet

Buildings and several potentially contaminating facilities may not be placed within 75 feet of qualifying sinkhole openings, depressions, or channels. The restriction applies to sinkholes with an opening of at least 1 square foot, a depression of at least 100 square feet, or a channel cross-section of at least 3 square feet. Section 82-125 establishes 75-foot sinkhole setbacks

Regular zoning permits expire after 12 months if no action has begun to establish the use; conditional-use permits likewise expire after 12 months if no action has commenced, although the latter may remain effective thereafter while their conditions are followed. Regular zoning permits have a 12-month commencement period

Violations can result in civil enforcement, injunctions, permit consequences, and forfeitures of $10 to $500 per violation, plus prosecution costs, attorney fees, and court costs; each day of continuing violation is a separate violation. Each day of violation is a separate offense

The ordinance provides a pathway for an unlisted facility such as a data center to be approved: the Planning, Zoning and Land Information Director may determine that the use is similar to a listed use, or refer it to the Planning, Zoning and Farmland Preservation Committee for conditional-use processing (Sec. 82-21(d)).

The Industrial District allows several use categories that can provide a zoning basis for data-center development, including commercial storage facilities, manufacturing/assembly/processing, freight terminals, utility facilities, and mobile service facilities (Industrial District permitted uses).

The Light Industrial District is intended for small-scale manufacturing, warehousing, trade or contractor establishments, commercial storage facilities, and similar businesses, creating a zoning category that may accommodate smaller data-center facilities (Light Industrial District purpose).

Utility Facilities Type A may be approved with a regular zoning permit and may be located on lots smaller than the district minimum if the lot can accommodate the facility, future expansion, parking, setbacks, open space, and impervious-surface requirements (Type A utility-facility flexibility).

Utility Facilities Type B are allowed in the Industrial District by regular zoning permit rather than conditional-use approval; in other districts they generally require a conditional-use permit. Type B facilities may also be exempt from impervious-surface limits when native, pollinator-friendly vegetative infiltration areas exist beneath them (Type B utility-facility rules).

Site-plan-review uses are permitted by right once the ordinance requirements are met; the review addresses site design rather than whether the use is allowed. If the parties cannot agree on the design, the Planning, Zoning and Farmland Preservation Committee issues a final decision, which may include conditions (site-plan-review process).

A permit approval protects the specifically approved data-center use from later zoning amendments: the ordinance states that permit issuance vests the owner's right to use the property in the approved manner until the permit expires (vested permit rights).

A legally established nonconforming facility can continue operating, and nonconforming structures may be repaired, maintained, renovated, rebuilt, or remodeled within their existing three-dimensional footprint. Additions may also be allowed up to 50% of the original first-floor footprint, subject to the ordinance's conditions (nonconforming-structure protections).

A nonconforming structure damaged or destroyed by specified events, including fire, flood, storm-related conditions, vandalism, or violent wind, may be restored to its prior size, location, and use, subject to the stated state and federal limitations (restoration protection).

Regular zoning permits generally expire after 12 months only if no action has begun, and a one-year renewal must be issued when construction began before expiration but was not completed. This provides additional time to start and complete an approved project (permit renewal provision).