Sparks, NV Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

Section 20.08.002 defines a data center as a facility used primarily to store, manage, process and transmit digital data, housing computer and network equipment, servers, appliances and related components, and expressly includes the supporting infrastructure such as air handlers, power generators, water cooling and storage facilities, and utility substations needed to keep the facility running. The Use Table in Section 20.02.013 lists the closely related category 'Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services (including data centers)' and marks it P for Permitted by right in the C2 (General Commercial), PO (Professional Office) and I (Industrial) zoning districts; every other zoning district, including every residential, agricultural, Tourist Commercial and Public Facilities district, carries no marking for this use, meaning it is presumed prohibited there under Section 20.02.013(B), which states that uses not listed in the Use Table are presumed prohibited unless the applicant secures a conditional use permit by showing the use is materially similar to a permitted one.

Because the use carries a P designation with no asterisk, a data center in Sparks needs no conditional use permit or administrative review specific to its use classification in these three districts; like any other project it must still comply with the dimensional, parking, landscaping and lighting standards of Chapter 20.04 for whichever district it sits in. Parking is set separately: Table 20.04.011-3 assigns 'Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services (including data centers)' a ratio of one parking space per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, the same ratio the code applies to industrial services, media production and general production uses.