State Intervention in Local Zoning: Lessons from Housing Applied to Data Centers

Authors

Matthew de Boer, Fordham University School of Law

Keywords

data centers; hyperscale; artificial intelligence; power use; water use; land use; infrastructure strain; local zoning; local planning; state legislation; state preemption; affordable housing; housing law; state and local government

Abstract

There is growing regulatory tension at the intersection of data center development and local land use law. As states aggressively court data centers with tax incentives and economic policies, they have largely declined to regulate where and how these facilities are sited. Local governments, left to absorb the consequences, have responded unevenly, attempting to fit extraordinary land, water, power, and noise-intensive data centers into zoning frameworks designed for far less demanding industrial uses. The result has been a cycle of uncertainty and conflict: developers face unpredictable approvals, moratoria, and litigation, while residents bear escalating infrastructure strain, environmental impacts, and diminished trust in local governance.

Drawing on the history of state intervention in exclusionary single family zoning during the affordable housing crisis, this Note contends that states can reconcile statewide economic objectives with local planning concerns through a light preemption framework for data centers. Just as states intervened in housing markets not to eliminate local zoning, but to discipline it through procedural mandates and objective standards, states can similarly structure data center siting to reduce local obstruction while preserving community protections.

Recommended Citation

Matthew de Boer, State Intervention in Local Zoning: Lessons from Housing Applied to Data Centers, 94 Fordham L. Rev. 1943 (2026).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol94/iss5/12