Arvada, CO Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

C of the Land Development Code, Utility and Communications Standards, sets the 300-foot buffer as a flat locational rule for the Data Center use. The rule sits alongside, but is written more strictly than, the standard for major utility uses in subsection A, which allows the same 300-foot buffer to be waived if the applicant demonstrates no other location is viable; the Data Center standard carries no such waiver language. The code's definitions article defines Data Center as a building used exclusively for the transmission and exchange of telephone signals, or a facility used by telecommunications carriers, internet access providers, or internet service providers where servers, data storage devices, switches, routers and similar technology infrastructure are concentrated and physically secured.

Equipment inside a single data center can be owned or operated by more than one company, so the definition reaches multi-tenant colocation buildings as well as single-owner facilities; it also covers server farms and telecommunications hotels, and it expressly excludes wireless communication facilities, which are regulated separately under Chapter 7 of the Land Development Code. Because the standard is written into the citywide Utility and Communications Standards division rather than into any single zoning district's rules, it applies wherever the underlying zoning table allows a Data Center use, and site plan review confirms compliance with the 300-foot measurement before the city issues a building permit.