Provo, UT Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)
Key Facts
- Allowed base zones
- Light Manufacturing (M1) or PIC only
- Buffer distance
- 200 feet from school, park, home
- Cooling requirement
- Non-evaporative; no sewer discharge
- Financial safeguard
- Performance bond per UMPA policy
- Noise standard
- Must meet Code Section 9.06.040
- Enacted
- Ordinance 2025-53, amended 2026-13
Summary
Provo confines data centers to a DC Overlay Zone that can only be layered onto Light Manufacturing (M1) or Planned Industrial Commercial (PIC) land, requires a 200-foot buffer from schools, parks and homes, and forces non-evaporative cooling with zero cooling-water discharge to city sewers.
(1) The DC Overlay may only be combined with Light Manufacturing (M1) and Planned Industrial Commercial (PIC) Zones. Development within the DC Overlay must comply with the development standards of the underlying zone unless otherwise specified in this Chapter... (3) No data center may be located closer than two hundred (200) feet to any school, park, or residential property, measured in a straight line between the closest property lines of lots on which the respective uses are located... (5) Data centers must use non-evaporative cooling methods and may not discharge treated water used for cooling into the municipal systems.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-17, passed June 9, 2026).
Full Breakdown
34A creates the Data Center Overlay Zone (DC Overlay) specifically to control the environmental footprint of server farms on air quality, water use and energy demand. 050(1), the overlay may only be combined with the Light Manufacturing (M1) or Planned Industrial Commercial (PIC) base zones, and any development must still meet the underlying zone's standards unless this chapter says otherwise. 100 before it can be approved. 050(3) sets a hard 200-foot separation: no data center may sit closer than two hundred feet to any school, park, or residential property, measured straight-line between the nearest lot lines.
050(5) requires non-evaporative cooling methods and bars discharging treated cooling water into the municipal water system. Data centers must also post a performance bond or similar financial mechanism under UMPA data center policies to protect taxpayers from infrastructure risk. 5, PM10, methane and more), and a technology end-of-life plan requiring disposal through a DEQ-licensed e-waste recycler. 040. 310. The chapter was enacted by Ordinance 2025-53 and amended by Ordinance 2026-13.
Violations & Fines
The overlay is administered through the city's zone map amendment and project plan approval process rather than a simple staff permit, so a data center proposed outside M1 or PIC, inside the 200-foot buffer, or without the required application package can be denied outright by the Municipal Council. Noncompliant cooling discharge or noise levels are enforced under the referenced Building, Fire and noise chapters, and an incomplete community benefit plan or environmental review under 14.34A.050(6) is grounds to reject the application before it reaches a vote.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a data center be built anywhere in Provo?
How far must a data center be from homes or schools?
What cooling methods are allowed?
What must an applicant submit besides a site plan?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Provo
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