The City of San Diego has no data-center ordinance and no "data center" use category. Data centers locate in the industrial base zones - IP, IL, and IH - permitted by right as an industrial use, or by Conditional Use Permit if classed as a communications switching station.
San Diego's Land Development Code (Municipal Code Chapter 13) does not name "data center" as a use. A data center is sited in the City's industrial base zones - IP, IL, and IH - and classified into the closest use category in Table 131-06B. A server building operating as an office, research and development, or light-manufacturing use is permitted by right, needing only a ministerial building permit. A facility classified as a "Major Transmission, Relay, or Communications Switching Station" requires a Conditional Use Permit in nearly every industrial zone (permitted by right only in IH-1-1). That permit is discretionary, triggering CEQA review and a public hearing. Unlike San Diego County, the City has adopted no moratorium or study.
Building or operating a data center outside an industrial zone, or without the Conditional Use Permit when one is required, is a Land Development Code violation enforced by Development Services and Code Enforcement through stop-work orders, civil penalties, and abatement.
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Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in San Diego County.
See how other cities in San Diego County handle data center zoning & siting.
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