At their December 16, 2025 meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted to approve ZTA 25-02, creating a new "Technology District" zoning category as part of the county’s initiative to update, modernize, and improve the county’s zoning ordinance. This article provides a brief overview of the new Technology District—the ordinance itself is the official authority and can be viewed in full at: orangecountyva.municipalcodeonline.com/book? type=ordinances#name=Division_70-IV- 16_Technology_Zoning_District. What is Orange County’s Technology District? By: Orange County Communications Department
The bottom line: The Technology District and corresponding Special Use Permit process (SUP) established provisions for data center development to set requirements, restrictions and guidelines. Without the Technology District, data center developers could have built data centers "by right" with no additional approval required in the I-2 zoning district.
What the Technology District does:
Any proposed application data center must now go through a rezoning to a Technology District and a Special Use Permit process for the data center and a separate Special Use Permit process for power generation, which guarantees at least two public hearings and allows officials to impose conditions on the project. The district also establishes restrictions including prohibitions on using potable water, Rapidan River water, or groundwater for data center cooling; buffers and setbacks including the strongest setback requirements of any Orange County zoning district, and sound and light restrictions, to name a few.
For more information, please review the following to keep up to date on the Technology District and county zoning matters:
Full ordinanc e: orangecountyva.municipalcodeonline.com/book? type=ordinances#name=Division_70-IV-16_Technology_Zoning_District Current planning projects : https://orangecountyva.gov/901/Current-Planning-Projects Meeting schedules : orangecountyva.gov/525/Agendas-Minutes
The process leading to the establishment of the new Technology District and zoning ordinance involved more than a year of research, public work sessions, and full public hearings before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. Meeting recordings are available on the County website.
4
Powered by FlippingBook