York County, SC Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Crypto Mining Rules (2026)

York County's zoning code does not have a stand-alone crypto-mining ordinance; instead, § 155.1301's defined terms fold cryptocurrency mining directly into the "data center" land use. A data center is defined there as "a facility containing one or more large-scale computer systems, located within a building or group of buildings, used for data storage and processing for off-site users," with routers, switches, firewalls, servers, back-up batteries or generators, cooling units, and fire suppression systems called out as typical components, and the definition closes by stating plainly that it "includes cryptocurrency mining operations." That means a crypto mining operation is reviewed and permitted exactly like any other data center.

Table 155.271-2's Use Table lists "Data Centers" as a permitted use only in specific commercial and industrial zoning districts, not across the whole county, so a mining operation cannot simply locate on any commercially zoned lot. Once sited in an eligible district, § 155.058(C) imposes a height-and-setback trade-off: "the maximum building height for a data center is 80 feet, provided that two additional feet of side setback width and rear setback depth above the zoning district minimum is required for each foot of additional height above the district maximum." In practice, a mining facility that wants to build taller than the base district's height limit, up to the 80-foot data center cap, must push its side and rear walls back two extra feet for every foot gained, which limits how tightly a large mining warehouse can be packed onto a commercial or industrial lot near other buildings.