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Board adds government services, defines data centers and removes duplexes from agricultural district
Summary
Supervisors approved multiple zoning ordinance text amendments: adding 'government services' as a special-exception use in most districts, defining and requiring a special-exception pathway for data centers (with a 1‑megawatt electrical threshold), and deleting duplexes as a special-exception use in Division 1 (agriculture).
The board voted July 17 to adopt three zoning ordinance text amendments proposed by staff: 1) add a regulated definition for "government services" and require a special exception in most districts for certain government offices; 2) add a definition for "data center" and require a special-exception permit in specified commercial/industrial districts; and 3) remove duplexes as a permitted special-exception use in Division 1 (agricultural district).
Staff said the government-services change is intended to provide transparency so large public facilities (courthouse, administrative buildings) are reviewed similarly to schools and other public uses. On data centers, staff presented a definition that includes large-scale computer systems, backup power, cooling and, crucially, equipment processing at least 1 megawatt of electrical capacity. "Data center means a facility whose primary services are the storage, management, and processing of digital data...including...equipment used for transformation, transmission, distribution, or management of at least 1 megawatt of capacity of electrical power," the staff summary said.
All three amendments passed after public hearings and planning commission review; the board clarified that data centers will require a special exception and site review because of their scale and infrastructure demands.
