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What You're Noticing

What's This Notice?

Received a confusing letter about a public hearing or rezoning? Here's what it means and what to do next.

6 min read

Key Takeaways

  • 1 You typically have only 10-25 days from receiving a notice to the public hearing
  • 2 Data centers often appear as "information services facility" or "technology campus"
  • 3 Understanding your notice type tells you how much influence you have over the decision
  • 4 Community opposition has blocked or delayed over $64 billion in data center projects
10-25
Days to Act
Typical notice window
$64B
Projects Blocked
Community opposition impact

You Got a Strange Letter

You're sorting through the mail when something official catches your eye. A notice from your township or county planning department. It mentions a "public hearing," some parcel numbers, and a date that's uncomfortably soon. The language is dense with legal references. You have questions: What is this? Does it affect me? What am I supposed to do?

Take a breath. That notice is actually good news—it means you still have time to learn about the project and have your voice heard. In many communities, residents have discovered data centers or other industrial facilities were approved near their homes without any public input at all.

This letter is your invitation to participate. Let's figure out what it's telling you.

Three Types of Notices

The type of notice you received determines what's being decided and how much influence you have. Here are the three most common:

Rezoning Notice High Influence

Changes the official classification of a property—for example, from agricultural to industrial. This is the most significant type of land use change because it permanently alters what can be built on the land.

Decision-makers have broad discretion to approve or deny based on community impact.
Special Use Permit Meaningful Input

Also called a conditional use permit, this allows a specific use that requires extra review. Decision-makers can impose conditions—noise limits, setbacks, operating hours—or deny the permit entirely.

You can propose specific conditions or voice concerns about impacts.
Variance Limited Influence

Waives specific zoning requirements, like allowing buildings closer to your property line than normally permitted. It doesn't change the zoning classification, just grants an exception to specific rules.

Narrower scope means fewer opportunities to object—but you can still be heard.
Important: Some projects are approved "by-right" without any public hearing. If your neighbor mentions construction starting and you never received a notice, check your local zoning ordinance—the project may have been approved administratively.

The Data Center Connection

Why might that notice in your hand be about a data center? Because the AI infrastructure boom is driving unprecedented demand for land, power, and water in communities across America. Projects that once concentrated in Northern Virginia now seek sites in Michigan, Indiana, Texas, and dozens of other states.

Data centers often appear in planning documents using indirect language. Here's a quick translation:

What the Notice Says
"Information services facility"
Data center
What the Notice Says
"Technology campus"
Usually a data center
What the Notice Says
"Advanced manufacturing"
May be a data center seeking exemptions
What the Notice Says
"Cloud services facility"
Data center
Other Clues It's a Data Center
  • Requests for tens or hundreds of megawatts of electricity
  • New substations or transmission line connections
  • Large windowless buildings
  • 24/7 operations mentioned
  • Millions of gallons of water for cooling
  • Backup generators numbered in the hundreds

What to Do Right Now

You likely have 10-25 days before the hearing. Here's how to use that time:

This Week
  • Mark the date. Put the hearing on your calendar. Note any deadlines for written comments or speaker registration.
  • Get the full application. Contact your planning department and request all project materials. You're entitled to see them.
  • Research the applicant. Search online for the developer or company name. If it's a shell company, dig deeper—sometimes the actual tech company behind the project isn't revealed until later.
  • Talk to your neighbors. They may have received the same notice. Coordinated voices carry more weight than individual complaints.
Before the Hearing
  • Register to speak if required (often by the day before)
  • Prepare brief, specific comments—hearings typically allow 3-5 minutes per speaker
  • Submit written comments even if you plan to speak; they become part of the official record

For detailed guidance on preparing for a hearing, see Questions to Ask →

Next Steps

That notice in your mailbox is the beginning, not the end. Communities across America have successfully shaped, improved, or stopped data center projects through informed engagement. In March 2025 alone, Loudoun County, Virginia eliminated by-right data center development after years of community advocacy.

Here's where to go from here:

Citizen's Guide Comprehensive resource for understanding and participating in data center decisions
Questions to Ask Key questions to raise at hearings about power, water, noise, and community impact
Take Action Connect with others and find ways to engage
Glossary Definitions of technical and planning terms you'll encounter

If you're a township official who received this notice about a project in your jurisdiction, see our Township Guide →

Go Deeper

Chapter 7 of This Is Server Country examines why communities often discover projects too late, how the approval process works, and what reforms could give residents a more meaningful voice. The chapter includes detailed case studies of communities that successfully organized in response to data center proposals.

Learn more about the book