Scope
Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance Amendments ZO 112.1-2024-9 and ZO 112.2-2024-8, adopted by the Board of Supervisors on 10 September 2024, change data center permissions in several industrial districts from permitted to permitted or special exception, remove data centers as a use in the PRC district, make them a special exception in the PDC and PTC districts, and revise the use-specific standards, including a requirement that any data center building be at least 200 feet from the lot line of an R district or residential property.
- Geographic scope
- Fairfax County, Virginia
- Jurisdiction
- Local
- Authority type
- Local government
- Issuing authority
- Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
Dates
- Adopted
- 10 September 2024
- Effective
- 11 September 2024
- Scheduled expiration
- See completion condition
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- The amendment states no expiration.
- Source document
- 10 September 2024
- Last checked
- 23 September 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)
Summary
Fairfax County's 2024 zoning amendment tightened where and how data centers may be built: in some industrial districts they need a special exception instead of being permitted by right, they are no longer allowed in the PRC district, and they require a special exception in PDC and PTC districts. New standards include a 200-foot separation between any data center building and residential districts or uses. The Board adopted it on 10 September 2024 and it took effect on 11 September 2024.
What this does not establish
- The adoption certificate's text layer renders the effective day as "II"; the county data-center page confirms the amendment became effective on 11 September 2024.
- Prior approvals are addressed by a grandfathering clause in the amendment that is not analysed here.
- Later Fairfax amendments, if any, were not searched.
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://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-development/sites/planning-development/files/Assets/Documents/zoning%20ordinance/adopted%20amendments/ZO_112_1-2024-9.pdf