The Ordinance Did Not “Kill” Data Centers

Frederick County Code § 165-602.01, in plain English: a use that is not listed in a district is not, for that reason, a prohibited use. The Zoning Administrator can treat it as part of an existing use classification or as similar to a listed use in the ordinance, and allow it. Previously, data centers were classified as part of a broader telecommunications and professional services category and were allowed without being explicitly mentioned in the ordinance.

Middletown Data Center. Middletown Data Center, site plan #25-15 (2015), lists its present and proposed use as “data center.” It was approved as a minor site plan, with no conditional use permit. The county’s approval letter states that all ordinance requirements were met. At the time, the ordinance listed no such use and it was approved under a general “professional and businesses” services category.

Data centers were not killed. The September amendment returns the ordinance to the state under which Middletown was approved administratively. Administrative approval happens without public oversight or public hearing. This means that removing the use does not, in itself, close the door, and an intent to prohibit the use through removal can be readily challenged by a developer who knows the county’s code.

The fix is a clear prohibition on data centers, or an explicit entry stating where data centers are not permitted, not removal.

Related: the TM District amendment, the one district where the old ordinance lists data centers as a use permitted by right, is still tabled.