Share your thoughts! The information shared in this survey will be used to help Pierce County staff better understand the community’s views on data centers and identify important themes and issues to address during the development of new regulations. All answers are anonymous.
What is a data center?
Data centers are specialized facilities designed to store, process, and transmit digital information. Data centers house servers, storage systems, networking equipment, and supporting infrastructure under relatively high security. While networked data centers have existed for decades, a new class of ‘hyperscale’ facilities designed for generative AI and cloud computing has grown significantly in recent years. These modern data centers differ from traditional data centers in size and resource intensity and require specialized power and cooling infrastructure that may impact local utility grids and water resources and emit noise and air pollution. (Source: National Association of Counties).
Data centers typically fall into one of the following categories:
- Edge/micro facilities: The smallest type of data center, often comprised of modular structures of a few hundred to a few thousand square feet designed to reduce latency for real-time needs or near the edge of a network.
- Enterprise facilities: Built by one entity, such as a corporation or university, for their exclusive use, often ranging from around 5,000 square feet to upwards of 50,000 square feet.
- Colocation facilities: Built to be leased to multiple tenants, with sizes ranging from about 50,000 square feet to as high as about 600,000 square feet.
- Hyperscale facilities: Associated with providers of AI and the cloud; large buildings on campuses with individual buildings in the hundreds of thousands of square feet and associated infrastructure such as backup generators, and in some cases, on-site power generation or water treatment and discharge facilities.
Source: Nichols, Charlie (October 2025). “The Physical Footprint of Artificial Intelligence.” Zoning Practice, Vol. 42, No. 10, American Planning Association.
Why are we working on this?
As construction of large data centers has increased nationally in recent years, Pierce County staff are reviewing the County Code (our local laws and regulations) and drafting updates to zoning regulations to better address data centers, especially hyperscale facilities. Any proposed amendments to the County Code must be reviewed and adopted by the County Council before going into effect.
What regulations already exist in Pierce County?
While there are standards applicable to industrial uses, there are not currently any standards specific to data centers in the Pierce County Code. Data centers are currently classified as a type of Intermediate Manufacturing and Intermediate/Final Assembly (PCC 18A.33.280.E.4) in the County’s zoning code. This use category is divided into five levels based on building floor area and is allowed by right in some areas and by conditional use permit (with a public hearing before the Hearing Examiner) in other areas. Where a use is allowed by right, all applicable zoning and environmental regulations, including the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), must still be followed before a permit is issued. See a map of the allowances for this use category here.
What authority does Pierce County have over data centers?
Pierce County designates permissible land uses and development standards (site design, environmental, traffic, stormwater, infrastructure, etc.) through zoning regulations, but only for unincorporated areas (outside of incorporated cities and towns). The County also has authority over permitting processes and fees. However, the County’s zoning and other development regulations must comply with applicable Washington state laws. Additionally, the County does not have direct authority over utility rates set by non-County utility providers, nor over state or federal level tax incentives for data centers.