Board orders staff to draft data‑center text amendments; seeks third‑party study options
After days of public pressure and Environmental Commission recommendations, planning staff returned detailed options for draft text amendment 26‑23 that would limit where data centers are allowed, require water‑services plans, restrict certain cooling approaches, mandate third‑party review where necessary and add noise, buffer and decommissioning requirements. Staff will return with draft ordinance language in about 30 days.
The full story
Planning and zoning staff presented draft language options for text amendment 26‑23, intended to impose additional conditions on proposed data‑center uses in Calvert County. The package would: restrict data centers to I‑2 (heavy industrial) zoning, prohibit groundwater wells for cooling, require an engineer‑signed water services plan with metering and reporting, bar inefficient evaporative/once‑through cooling, demand Tier‑4 (or equivalent) generator emissions controls where available, and allow mandatory third‑party review when staff deems it necessary.
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