Loudoun County has not enacted a moratorium, cap, or ban on data centers. Instead, in March 2025 it eliminated by-right development and now requires every new data center to win a Special Exception, subject to the standards of Zoning Ordinance Section 4.06.02.
Loudoun County, home to the world's largest data center market, has chosen heightened review rather than a moratorium. On March 18, 2025, the Board of Supervisors adopted Zoning Ordinance amendments eliminating by-right data center development countywide and reclassifying data centers as a Special Exception use requiring legislative approval by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. Applications formally under review as of February 12, 2025 and located more than 500 feet from residential development may be grandfathered. A separate Phase 2 study is underway to develop further use-specific standards covering building height, on-site power generation, energy storage, and noise. No pause, numeric cap, or outright ban on new data centers is in effect.
There is no moratorium to violate. But building or expanding a data center without the now-required Special Exception approval halts Site Plan review and triggers Loudoun County zoning enforcement until the use is approved and conforms.
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See how Loudoun County's data center moratoriums rules stack up against other locations.
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