As part of ongoing work on the Orange County Zoning Ordinance, county officials are discussing a technology zone.
Earlier this spring, the Orange County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to overhaul and amend the county’s zoning ordinance. The Berkley Group was retained to assist in the work with anticipated completion taking approximately 12-18 months. As part of the process, individual zoning districts are being discussed and worked on. The technology zoning district is one of those.
The district, which is being proposed through a zoning ordinance amendment, is intended to accommodate high-intensity technology-based uses including data centers, technology schools or colleges and technology research and development facilities. Three uses would also be allowed by special use permit–on-site power generation, a public utility facility not including utility-scale solar and a telecommunications tower. The zone sets forth larger setbacks and buffers as well as height restrictions and sign regulations. The zone isn’t being proposed for one particular area in the county, but rather would be obtained through a rezoning. Rezoning applications offer opportunities for public feedback through public hearings and are evaluated by both the planning commission and the board of supervisors which ultimately decides the application’s fate.
“Under the current zoning, a data center coming in starts from zero with the developer proffering all the conditions that would make it acceptable,” District 1 Supervisor and board chairman Mark Johnson said. “By getting ahead of it with a technology zone, we’re saying if you want to have a data center in this county, you have to do these things.”
The proposed technology zoning district is currently under review by the planning commission. At a work session last week, commissioners questioned the inclusion of technology schools and technology research and development facilities as permitted uses within the district.
“These two things are disconnected from a data center,” District 1 commissioner Jason Capelle said. “[They] don’t require the same guardrails a data center does.”
Currently, someone wanting to locate a technology school within the county could opt to do so under the “institutional” use.
The commission will continue its discussion on the district during its Nov. 20 meeting. A public hearing regarding the issue is scheduled for Dec. 4 during which time the planning commission will vote to either recommend or deny approval of the zoning ordinance amendment to the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors will then hold a public hearing on the matter Dec. 16.
For updates on the zoning ordinance overhaul, including the technology zone district, visit https://orangecountyva.gov/1181/ZTA-25-01-Zoning-Ordinance-Overhaul.
