A community effort to update Forsyth County’s data center zoning rules
Forsyth County residents have developed a proposed text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinances (UDO) to better distinguish large-scale data centers from smaller commercial uses and establish standards appropriate to their impacts.
Read the revised Text Amendment September 28 version
What the proposed amendment would do
The proposal would establish a separate classification for large-scale data centers and introduce development and environmental standards.
The revision responds to concerns raised about North Carolina’s down-zoning law while preserving existing development rights on land already zoned for Services A uses.
Timeline of the Text Amendment
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Project Iron Spur denied
Forsyth County commissioners denied the proposed Project Iron Spur rezoning. Residents turned their attention to the broader problem of how large-scale data centers are classified and regulated.
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Residents organize for zoning reform
Forsyth County residents researched the county’s zoning rules, drafted a proposed UDO text amendment, collected 349 unique Forsyth County signatures, and raised the $2,000 filing fee.
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Original amendment submitted
Residents delivered the proposed amendment to Forsyth County Planning. County officials subsequently declined to accept it for processing, citing conflicts with North Carolina’s down-zoning law (G.S. 160D-601). The filing fee was not accepted.
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Proposal revised
Forsyth County residents worked with legal advisers to address the county’s objections while preserving existing development rights under state law.
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Revised amendment delivered
A revised proposal was delivered to the county. It establishes a proposed Data Center, Services C classification with development and environmental standards for large-scale facilities.
Why modern data centers need different rules
Forsyth County currently classifies data centers under Services A, a broad category of business and personal service uses. Examples of uses currently grouped under Services A include:
- barber shops
- beauty shops
- shoe repair
- photographic studios
- watch and jewelry repair
- furniture repair
- custom picture framing
- small equipment repair
Modern data centers are not the same kind of land use as a barber shop, photography studio, or a small equipment repair shop.
The classification comes from an older framework for computer and data-processing uses. Since then, the scale and infrastructure demands of larger modern data centers have changed dramatically.
Large data centers can involve:
- Major electrical infrastructure
- Water demand
- Backup generators
- Cooling equipment
- Persistent noise
- Security fencing
- Large-scale land impacts
- Traffic and construction impacts
That zoning gap is why residents drafted the proposed amendment. State down-zoning law blocked the county from accepting the September 28 filing. A revised proposal was delivered October 16. The underlying land-use problem remains.