Chesterfield would restrict data center development under latest zoning update proposal

The latest version of the proposed zoning ordinance update would put new restrictions on the development of data center projects in Chesterfield County. (BizSense file)

Chesterfield officials are now eyeing new restrictions on data center development as part of an in-progress zoning ordinance overhaul.

If approved, data centers would be strictly a conditional use in Chesterfield. Currently, data centers can be built by-right in some zoning districts, meaning that they don’t require a review by the Board of Supervisors to be built under those areas’ current zoning.

By making data center development a conditional use, all such projects everywhere in Chesterfield would need case-by-case zoning approval by county supervisors moving forward.

The proposal was unveiled this month as part of the fourth and latest draft of the years-in-the-making revamp of the county’s zoning ordinance known as the Zoning Ordinance Modernization Project, also called ZOMod. The ordinance document specifies which land uses are permitted where and under what circumstances.

In addition to requiring conditional-use permits for data centers, those projects would also be limited to Employment Center (EC) and Employment General (EG) zoning districts, which would be new districts under the new ordinance. The proposal would curtail where data centers could be developed in Chesterfield.

Currently, data centers are a by-right use in industrial districts I-2 and I-3, as well as in the commercial zone C-5. They’re currently by-right with restrictions in I-1, C-3 and C-4, and a conditional use in agricultural districts.

“Data centers are permitted in some districts today and restricted in others. That (use) will become completely conditional on adoption of ZOMod as written,” Thomas Jenkins, the county’s zoning administrator, said in an interview earlier this week.

If the restrictions are approved, it would still be possible for a developer to file a request to rezone property to set the stage for a data center project, which would also still require reviews by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.

Amid an increase in developer interest in bringing such projects to Chesterfield and the wider region, public input gathered by planners in the course of drawing up the ordinance update, as well as the move made recently by Henrico to restrict data centers in its jurisdiction, influenced the latest proposal, Planning Manager Rachel Chieppa said.

“There was some feedback from the community on data centers needing to be conditional. So that’s where that came from,” Chieppa said.

Chesterfield’s previous ordinance drafts proposed less limiting zoning rules for data centers than the current pitch, though the previous drafts were more restrictive than what’s currently on the books.

The proposed restrictions come as Denver-based developer Tract is attempting to secure zoning approval for a data center campus on more than 700 acres in the southeast of the county. The Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended denial of the Tract project. Supervisors will render a final verdict at a future meeting. Should it be approved by the board, the project would be grandfathered under existing zoning rules.

And last month, county supervisors approved EDA-initiated zoning requests for data center projects in western Chesterfield. Since those properties have already been zoned for the data center projects, they will be able to proceed even if the new ordinance is adopted as currently written.

Also at the commission’s Tuesday meeting, county planners presented the latest ZOMod draft, which in addition to the new data center regulations, featured some other proposed tweaks compared to the prior draft.

The latest update features a reduction in the total number of zoning districts as well as the addition of new designations. It maintains the same 14 land-use districts, a mixture of brand-new designations and others made to consolidate existing districts, included in the third draft released this spring.

The latest ordinance proposal would maintain the conditional use planned development (CUPD) process, which county officials had considered eliminating entirely at one point. The process would be renamed a zoning deviation.

As part of the update, there would be a total conversion of the zoning designations of properties from their current districts into the future ordinance’s planned districts. County officials have said that effectively there would be minimal changes, because approved zoning conditions would be carried forward, and properties would be converted into the closest new district based on current zoning and usage.

The ZOMod project kicked off in early 2021 and is intended to make the county’s zoning ordinance a more user-friendly document that’s responsive to modern development trends. While there was a major update to the zoning ordinance in the late 1990s, most of the ordinance dates to the 1970s. The update is also designed to bring the ordinance in line with the county’s comprehensive plan that was last updated in 2019.

The Planning Commission is expected to hold a public hearing and consider whether to recommend the ordinance update in July. The Board of Supervisors is anticipated to hold its own public hearing and potentially provide final approval of the ordinance update in September.

More information about ZOMod, including details about upcoming community meetings and the full draft of the latest revisions, can be found here.

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