(3/2025) Last month, the Frederick County Council work-shopped a bill which I sponsored with Council President Brad Young to update some of the requirement criteria for Critical Digital Infrastructure (CDI) facilities in the county. The bill will be introduced this month and will hopefully pass in the coming weeks. I have been involved with this issue for most of my time on the County Council. Recognizing that this is an important issue as Frederick County is growing, I was grateful when County Executive Jessica Fitzwater asked me to co-chair the Data Centers Workgroup in June 2023. The workgroup was tasked with evaluating the current Critical Digital Infrastructure requirements and recommending ways to integrate data centers into Frederick County that will allow this new industry to be successful, while addressing the real concerns that community members have about noise and other impacts.
For some background, in March 2022, the previous County Council unanimously approved Critical Digital Infrastructure, or data centers, as new use in areas zoned for General Industrial (GI) and Limited Industrial (LI), subject to meeting design criteria. Frederick County was one of the first jurisdictions to do this. We’re fortunate that county staff and other stakeholders had the foresight to set some standards regarding location, landscaping, architecture and building design, and site design with screening and buffering to minimize visual impacts to our landscapes. A couple of smaller and older data centers have been operating in the county for several years, but larger hyperscale data centers like those you might be used to seeing in Northern Virginia, have only recently been developed in Frederick County. The former Eastalco aluminum smelting plant property is now Quantum Frederick, where data center development is now underway with the passage of the first CDI bill in 2022.
This new bill builds on that and proposes updated design requirements to mitigate some of the negative impacts data centers can have on surrounding communities, including visual impacts, noise and vibration, and air quality.
To minimize visual impacts as much as possible, this bill would require a viewshed analysis with a site development plan application. Applicants should demonstrate that the visual impacts of a data center to surrounding properties, public roadways, and historic sites will be minimized as much as possible. A key recommendation from the Data Centers Workgroup was the limitation of where data centers should and should not be located in the county. In addition to the current restriction of industrial zoning, this bill will stipulate that a Critical Digital Infrastructure facility must be located within a Community Growth Area. CDI facilities would not be permitted within a Priority Preservation Area (PPA), Rural Legacy Area (RLA), or a Treasured Landscape Management Area.
The community near the Quantum Frederick data center campus is rightfully concerned about potential noise generation and impact on quality of life. With this bill, CDI facilities would be required to submit a noise report to the county within 6 months of initial operation and then bi-annually. To address air pollution that may result from the required backup power generators, the proposed legislation would require all generators to meet or exceed Tier 4 emission standards, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, the times for required generator testing would be limited to minimize impacts on the surrounding community.
While this industry continues to evolve relativity rapidly, Frederick County is being responsive to the clear communication from our residents who are asking for moderation of data center development. We have learned some lessons from neighboring counties who allowed rapid and expansive data center development and are now looking to add some regulations and guardrails. We can successfully incorporate this new industry into our local economy, while preserving the landscapes and quality of life that we appreciate in Frederick County.
Please feel free to contact me about this or any issue at rknapp@frederickcountymd.gov.
