Zoning Categorizations with the Rapid Expansion of Data Centers
By: Jack Brestel
Over the past couple of years, many municipalities have grappled with the possibilities surrounding data centers that have risen due to the rapid transformation of technological operations. Among the many considerations a data center must make when determining a build location, land acquisition and zoning are at the top of the list as well as being the most controversial issues with the public.[1] With the growing need for large companies to house their data, cloud farms, and artificial intelligence outside of the main office—mainly to accommodate vast amounts of information—building data centers has been the main solution, especially in areas where noise concerns, energy consumption, and building height regulations are favorable.[2] Further, companies often run into issues with excessive water or energy consumption and have to solve them with the municipalities themselves.[3] With local law attempting to keep up with the expansion of these centers, zoning issues commonly arise.
Many zoning codes are not yet written to include data centers.[4] When these codes do not expressly categorize data centers, judges and other zoning officers may interpret terms such as “industrial, utility, or technology facility.”[5] Depending on these interpretations, the project may be approved, denied, or put on hold for a lengthy court battle.
Deference is given by the courts to local zoning administrators and boards, provided that their decisions are not legally erroneous, plainly wrong, or inconsistent with the plain language of the ordinance.[6] Further, before going to state court, any appeals must be made to the proper zoning board, making proper statutory interpretation crucial when selecting a location to attempt to build a data center.[7] Courts have held the absence of a specified provision addressing a proposed use does not automatically render the ordinance exclusionary; instead, courts may look at whether the proposed use may fit into another zoning classification or if the ordinance is broad enough to encompass the use.[8] Ordinances should be interpreted expansively, favoring the landowner, with undefined terms given their plain and ordinary meaning.[9]
These principals, although not yet specifically covering data centers, may be used to help analyze how we classify them. In jurisdictions without a zoning-related definition for data centers, we can look to industrial or technological classifications when companies are determining where to build a facility. For municipalities to prevent future issues, their zoning code should be amended to include data centers, whether as their own entity or within another classification for land use. If the future of technology companies resides in the construction of data centers, first we need to figure out where they may be built.
[1] See Barbara Murphy Melby et al, Powering the Future with Data Centers: Legal Considerations, Morgan Lewis (Jan. 29, 2025), https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2025/01/powering-the-future-with-data-centers-legal-considerations.
[2] See Jane Rueger et al., Key Legal Issues of Data Center Development, PerkinsCoie (Apr. 30, 2025), https://www.ashurstperkinscoie.com/en/insights/key-legal-issues-of-data-center-development/.
[3] Id.
[4] Matthew N. McClure et al., Data Centers, Local Zoning, and Land Development: How to Protect Your Project From Costly Delays, Ballard Spahr (Nov. 17, 2025), https://www.ballardspahr.com/insights/alerts-and-articles/2025/11/data-centers-local-zoning-and-land-development-how-to-protect-your-project-from-costly-delays.
[5] Id.
[6] Donovan v. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 251 Va 271, 274-75 (Va. 1996).
[7] See Phillips v. Telum, Inc., 228 Va. 585, 589 (Va. 1982).
[8] See Bloomsburg Indus. Ventures, LLC v. Town of Bloomsburg, 242 A.3d 969, 974 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2019) (determining the zoning characterization of a transitional living facility).
[9] See Johnson v. Pocono Twp. Zoning Hearing Bd., 310 A.3d 836, 844 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2023).