Hyperscale data centers get a hard no in zoning rewrite

Fort Mill’s replacement zoning code leaves room for smaller data centers—but prohibits the largest category outright. Town Council unanimously approved Ordinance 2026-38 on Sept. 28, replacing the town’s zoning code in its entirety.⁠[1][2]

The code defines “hyperscale” as any data centers exceeding 100,000 square feet cumulatively per site and says they are not permitted in any zoning district. That threshold applies to the combined site total, not just the size of a single building.⁠[2]

This is not a blanket ban on the industry. Retail data centers, capped at 25,000 square feet per building, are allowed in three designated zoning districts. Wholesale centers are allowed in one.⁠[2]

For neighbors, the separation requirements are a consequential part of the rules: retail facilities must stay at least 500 feet from residentially used or residentially zoned property, churches, schools and parks. Wholesale facilities must stay at least 1,000 feet away from those same uses and zoning, and at least 100 feet from every property boundary.⁠[2]

Mechanical equipment must also be screened from major roads and abutting residentially zoned or planned properties. Buffers beside residential zoning must include a three-foot berm or six-foot masonry wall, without reductions in buffer width or plantings.⁠[2]

One drafting wrinkle remains in the posted code: its general definitions give wholesale centers a 75,000-square-foot building limit, while the data-center-specific standards say 100,000. The code’s interpretation rule says a specific section’s meaning and application control when they differ from a general definition.⁠[2]