A Working Guide to the Data Center Advisory Committee’s Charge
Neutral committee guide | Draft 1 | September 18, 2026
The committee’s job
Treat the assignment like a public fact-finding inquiry. The committee does not need to decide whether data centers are good or bad in the abstract. It must tell the Board: what Imperial County can support, where it can fit, what rules are missing, what evidence applicants must provide, and how new rules should be applied lawfully.
Practical sequence
Step 1 - Establish the baseline
Charge: Evaluate current General Plan, zoning, ordinances and specific plans.
Read: Land Use Element; Title 9 M-1/M-2/M-3, design, noise and enforcement divisions; relevant specific plans; IID tariff.
Answer: - Where is an enclosed data center permitted now? - Which accessory features trigger a CUP? - Which existing standards control noise, water, generators, setbacks and enforcement? - Which current provisions are clear, ambiguous or missing?
Work product: adopted baseline matrix. Do not debate new policy until members agree on what today’s rules say.
Step 2 - Define the use and its scale
Charge: Identify gaps and needed land-use tools.
Read: rules-and-gaps audit; IID Large Load Tariff.
Answer: - What counts as a data center, yard, campus and accessory generation? - Should adjacent phases and affiliates be aggregated? - Which load tiers require administrative review, CUP, specific plan or development agreement?
Work product: definitions plus an agreed tier table. Use IID’s 20 MW tariff line as the large-load planning unit, not as proof that any site has 20 MW available.
Step 3 - Set objective pass/fail gates
Charge: Determine what regulations are needed.
Read: 20 MW framework; IID study/tariff materials; County water, fire, noise and air rules.
Answer: - What constitutes firm deliverable power? - What water budget and cooling evidence must be independently verified? - What generator, BESS, fire, noise, heat and lighting standards apply? - What proof of financing and project readiness is required?
Work product: model application checklist and required findings.
Step 4 - Define compatibility before drawing a map
Charge: Address proximity to homes, schools, neighborhoods and sensitive uses.
Read: General Plan compatibility policies; Title 9 noise; public-health, air, fire, airport, flood and habitat layers.
Answer: - Which uses require fixed setbacks, performance standards, or both? - Where is 24-hour equipment noise measured, under normal, testing and emergency modes? - When does a generator yard make an otherwise industrial parcel incompatible? - How will cumulative burdens and environmental justice be evaluated?
Work product: compatibility matrix with measurable standards. Avoid a single arbitrary buffer for every impact.
Step 5 - Build the suitability atlas
Charge: Map areas best suited based on land use, infrastructure and energy.
Read: six-area first-pass screen; IID system maps; zoning/parcel maps; water-purveyor, flood, habitat, airport and road layers.
Answer: - Which parcels have the right land-use designation and enough buffer? - Which are near useful grid nodes, subject to IID confirmation? - Which have an identified water and fire-flow solution? - Which fail because of housing, schools, air burden, agriculture, habitat or infrastructure cost?
Work product: red/yellow/green atlas with methodology and caveats. “Near a line” is not “has capacity.”
Step 6 - Choose the planning tools
Charge: Decide whether specific plans or other tools should control location and regulation.
Answer: - Can a countywide ordinance and overlay handle 5-20 MW projects? - At what scale or complexity is a specific plan required? - When is a development agreement justified, and what public benefits/security should it contain? - Should a pre-application fatal-flaw screen occur before full processing?
Work product: tool-selection matrix: by-right, administrative, CUP, overlay, specific plan, development agreement.
Step 7 - Separate new projects from projects in process
Charge: Determine lawful application of new rules.
Read: project entitlement record; any development agreement; tentative/vesting maps; issued permits; California Government Code development-agreement and vesting provisions; County Counsel opinion.
Answer: - What applications or approvals actually exist for each project? - Has any right vested, and for which precise scope? - Can health, safety, nuisance, building, fire or operating requirements still apply? - Which recommendations are prospective only?
Work product: project-by-project legal-status table prepared or approved by County Counsel. Do not use “grandfathered” as a conclusion without identifying the legal instrument.
Step 8 - Write findings before recommendations
For each issue, use four parts: 1. Finding: verified fact with citation. 2. Interpretation: what the fact means and where members disagree. 3. Recommendation: the proposed County action. 4. Implementation: ordinance/plan change, responsible office, timing and enforcement.
Final package: executive summary; baseline law; definitions and tiers; compatibility standards; suitability atlas; project-in-process legal analysis; fiscal/infrastructure findings; ordinance concepts; minority views if unresolved; source library.
Suggested meeting order
- Adopt baseline and definitions.
- Hear IID, water, fire, air, planning and County Counsel evidence.
- Adopt gates and compatibility criteria.
- Apply them to the map.
- Choose planning tools and transition rules.
- Debate findings and recommendations.
- Conduct legal and factual quality control.
- Submit by January 1, 2027.
Ground rules for a useful record
- Ask every witness for the source, date, unit and uncertainty behind each number.
- Label applicant statements, staff findings and independent evidence separately.
- Do not treat opposition as proof of harm or developer interest as proof of benefit.
- Record unresolved questions and assign an owner and due date.
- Publish supporting documents and version every draft.
- Keep project-specific adjudication separate from countywide policy where due process requires it.