Mason County, WA Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

Both of the Shelton UGA's higher-intensity zoning districts name data centers outright as permitted uses, not as special or conditional uses requiring hearing-examiner review. In the CI district, § 17.07.420 lists 'Data centers, server farms' as item Q among examples that include auto repair yards, breweries, and warehouse and wholesale establishments; the community development director determines whether a use not on the list is similar enough to qualify, but a data center does not need that finding because it is already named. In the Industrial district, § 17.07.630(A)(7) lists 'Data centers' among fifteen enumerated permitted uses that include food processing, mineral extraction, and value-added forest products, again without a special use permit.

Both districts still apply the chapter's general performance standards: § 17.07.455 requires that any use adjacent to a residential zone not exceed the noise levels in WAC 173-60 or Mason County Code § 9.36, and bars emissions beyond limits set by the air pollution control authority. The CI district caps building height at forty-five feet under § 17.07.450, with a special use permit required only to exceed it, and both districts require off-street parking under Chapter 17.08 and landscaping and screening under Chapter 17.07.800. Data centers sited outside these two Shelton UGA districts, in the county's rural residential or agricultural zones, are not listed as a permitted or accessory use in the sections reviewed and would need the community development director's similar-use finding or a special use permit.