Bessemer, AL Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

' Its permitted-uses list runs from bottling and distribution plants through data centers, heavy equipment sales, truck terminals and wholesale warehousing; 'data centers' sits as item (c), grouped with other by-right commercial and light-industrial uses rather than the uses permitted only on review. That placement matters: I-1 uses listed under subsection (2) do not need Board of Zoning Adjustment approval the way subsection (3) uses like helistops do. A data center project still has to clear the district's Table 2 dimensional standards, which set a 20,000-square-foot minimum lot, a 35-foot minimum front, rear and side yard, a 30 percent maximum ground coverage and a maximum structure height of 105 feet, dropping to 45 feet where the site abuts a residential district (footnote 2 to Table 2), plus the standard off-street parking, loading and sign regulations and a development plan filed with the buildings and inspections department.

1 was last amended by Ord. No. 3529 in 2014 and again by Ord. No. 3689, adopted October 7, 2025, keeping the I-1 use list current. Data centers are not listed in the I-2 heavy industrial, I-4 industrial park, or any commercial or residential district, so a site outside I-1 needs a rezoning before one can be built.