In unincorporated San Diego County, a large data center is classified as "Major Impact Services and Utilities" and needs a discretionary Major Use Permit, allowed in industrial zones such as M52, M54, and M58. The County has no data-center-specific ordinance yet.
San Diego County's Zoning Ordinance has no use category named "data center." The County treats a large-scale data center as "Major Impact Services and Utilities," a use type permitted in the general-impact and heavy industrial zones only with a Major Use Permit. In the M54 "General Impact Industrial" zone, Section 2545 lists Major Impact Services and Utilities among the uses requiring that permit. The permit is discretionary and requires a public hearing, findings, and CEQA review of water, power, and noise. In January 2026 the Board of Supervisors directed staff to study whether tailored data-center standards are needed; no ordinance, cap, or moratorium has been adopted. The unincorporated area is large but mostly rural, so industrial parcels are limited.
Constructing a data center without the required Major Use Permit is a zoning violation enforced by Planning & Development Services, subject to stop-work orders and abatement. Incorporated cities in the county regulate their own land separately.
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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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