Smyth County weighs ordinance to make data centers a special-use review

County staff presented a draft zoning amendment that would reclassify data centers from an outdated "data processing/call center" by-right category into a use requiring a Special Use Permit, bringing future projects under public review.

The presenter said the amendment would require applicants to submit detailed project information — site design, utility demands, buffering and screening, noise mitigation, emergency planning and decommissioning plans — and allow the county to impose conditions or deny proposals: "The amendment being considered tonight would place data centers into the 2nd category…" (Moderator). The staff repeatedly noted there is currently no data center proposal, site, or developer before Smyth County and that the hearing was to establish a process rather than approve a project.

Supporters of regulating data centers at the permit stage said a Special Use Permit gives the county tools to address site-specific impacts. Staff and the county administrator described a multi-step process: Planning Commission review, a later recommendation, and subsequent Board of Supervisors consideration. The county administrator reiterated the session was a listening exercise and that no final action would be taken tonight.

The draft ordinance includes specific topics staff will evaluate with each application — setbacks, landscaping, noise limits, stormwater controls, utility infrastructure and protections for agricultural and natural resources — and proposes post-occupancy noise monitoring and decommissioning requirements. Several members of the public praised the process of updating the ordinance while urging stronger or additional language on decommissioning bonds and utility guarantees.

Next procedural steps: the Planning Commission will review and consider public input at an upcoming meeting and then forward a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for action.