Smyth County Board moves to require special permits for data centers, removes 'data processing' from ordinance

The Smyth County Board of Supervisors voted May 28 to amend its upcoming June 25 public-hearing notice to remove by-right allowances for data centers and to delete “data processing” from the county ordinance, making data center projects subject to special-use permits.

County Administrator Shawn Utt told the Board he expected heavy citizen interest in the June 25 hearing and had recommended moving the hearing to Marion Senior High School. During the meeting’s Citizen’s Time, Dr. Charles Wassum urged the Board to hold a public information meeting about proposed data center regulations and raised privacy concerns. "I spoke against data centers and requested a public information meeting explaining the proposed ordinance," Dr. Wassum said during Citizen’s Time.

After returning from closed session, the Board acted on a motion by Supervisor Rick Billings, seconded by Supervisor Mike Sturgill, to amend the public-hearing notice so that data center provisions would be subject to special-use permits rather than allowed by-right. The motion passed with six ayes and one supervisor absent.

Board members and staff said the changes aim to give the public and the county more oversight and opportunity to review specific facility proposals. The amendment does not itself change zoning text; it alters the public-hearing notice and the Board’s approach to how data center applications will be reviewed and considered at the June hearing.

Next steps: the Board will hold the amended public hearing on the date and location to be confirmed; any proposed ordinance language will be considered at that public hearing and may be revised before formal adoption.