Scope
Section 7.20 of the Dickey County Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations, effective 21 April 2026, sets data center requirements: perimeter screening fence and buffer yards; equipment and structures at least 50 feet from the facility boundary and one-half mile (2,640 feet) from any church, school or occupied residence; no conditional use permit for a grid-connected data center until the utility or rural electric cooperative has approved the installation; noise limits of 65 dBA (45 dBA at night) at occupied residences, churches and government buildings; and owner or operator responsibility for decommissioning.
- Geographic scope
- Dickey County, North Dakota
- Jurisdiction
- Local
- Authority type
- Local government
- Issuing authority
- Dickey County Board of County Commissioners
Dates
- Adopted
- No adoption day is recorded
- Effective
- 21 April 2026
- Scheduled expiration
- See completion condition
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- The ordinance states no expiration.
- Source document
- The source page states no document date
- Last checked
- 23 September 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)
Summary
Dickey County, North Dakota, adopted a zoning ordinance effective 21 April 2026 whose section 7.20 regulates data centers. It requires screening fences and buffer yards, keeps equipment one-half mile from churches, schools and occupied residences, withholds a conditional use permit from a grid-connected data center until its utility has approved service, caps noise at 65 dBA by day and 45 dBA at night at receiving structures, and assigns decommissioning to the owner or operator.
What this does not establish
- The adoption day and the Board of County Commissioners minutes adopting the ordinance were not opened; only the effective day printed in the ordinance is stored.
- The copy is the county's 2026 zoning ordinance posted on its website; later amendments, if any, were not checked.
- The ordinance applies in unincorporated Dickey County under county zoning authority; city ordinances such as those of Ellendale are not covered.
- Section 7.20 also contains signage, structural, access, hazardous-material and emergency-response provisions not restated here.
Unresolved questions
None recorded.
Relationships
Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.
- No related action is recorded.
Sources
https://dickeynd.com/ufile/quicklinks/ql_6a60d1e50d53f_2026_zoning_ordinance.pdf