Data Center Restrictions Eyed In Highland Proposed Zoning Ordinance Modification
Highland County officials want to modify their zoning ordinance to add significant restrictions for Data Center operators who might want to make the county their home.
While no Data Centers exist in the county, nor are there any proposed plans for one at this time, Highland County supervisors appear anxious to move on the issue.
During a Sept. 16thcounty supervisors work session, Board member Henry Budinski proposed amending the zoning ordinance to include a section that specifically applies to Data Centers.
While nothing is set in stone, the proposed modification would give Data Center owners more hoops to jump through by way of a Conditional Use Permit, Budinski said.
“I think we need to modify our zoning ordinance so that in case one does come here, we have our procedures in place to make sure it’s done correctly like other municipalities are learning,” he explained.
Highland County Attorney Julian Harf told board member he saw no legal reason why supervisors could not modify the zoning ordinance after holding a joint public hearing with the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Harf and Budinski, who worked together to check on the legality of modifying the ordinance, presented the board with a list of proposed requirements Data Center operators must meet for a project approval.
Most notable in the proposed list of requirements are the data center’s projected water and electrical usage, as well as noise levels—all areas of concern voiced by data center opponents across the United States.
While no states have an out right ban on Data Centers, some have begun a push back on construction of new facilities through temporary moratoriums, executive pauses and strict utility regulations.
But in Virginia, it’s business as usual, according to an April 2026 report conducted by the Pew Research Center.
Pew found that the Commonwealth is number 1 out of the top 5 states with the most data centers. In total, Virginia has 398 centers, with another 287 planned or under construction.
According to Datacenters.com, most of Virginia’s Data Centers are located outside of Washington, D.C., in Fairfax, Loudon and Prince William counties, which is also known as Data Center Alley. And it is estimated that 70 percent of the world’s internet traffic passes through Northern Virginia’s Data Centers.
Data Centers were drawn to Virginia in 2008, when Virginia legislators passed a sales and use tax exemption to attract technology investments to economically challenged areas of the state.
Two years later, legislators enacted the Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Data Centers that reached high job creation and investments levels set by the state. That tax break expires in 2035.
This year, Data Centers operators kept their tax break, but legislators slapped them with a new electricity consumption tax of 1.1 cents per kilowatt hour starting July 1st.
For now, Highland supervisors and planners are hoping to get their proposed Data Center legislation drafted, hold public hearings and bring it up for vote as early as November.
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