Jones County leaders discuss zoning amendment to guide data center projects

Jones County officials and planning staff met in a Sept. 16 work session to review proposed amendments to the county's Comprehensive Land Development Resolution intended to establish review standards for data center proposals, including when and what type of environmental study would be required, noise limits and utility infrastructure expectations.

The discussion centered on competing draft language for Section 96.19 of the county's development code. County staff presented three versions of the proposed text: an initial staff draft, a version revised after industry (developers/operators) comments, and a subsequently reworded staff version. Staff said the Planning Commission recommended approval of the amendment but had not seen the final staff revision that incorporated developer and later staff edits.

Why it matters: Data centers can require large amounts of power and water, build transmission lines, and create both construction- and operations-period noise and traffic impacts. The county does not have a pending data center application, but the amendment is intended to give Jones County standards to evaluate any future proposals.

Board members and planning staff debated how prescriptive the county should be at the application stage. Some members said they wanted a clear requirement for environmental review to capture potential impacts to aquifers, protected species and archaeological resources; others favored a narrower, staged approach that would require only a baseline report initially and reserve the county's right to require more…