Loudoun County, the Virginia region that is home to the largest data center cluster in the world—known as Data Center Ally, 200 data centers encompassing 26M SF—has taken its first step to prohibit the growth of new server farms in certain parts of the county.

The county's board of supervisors has amended the county's comprehensive plan—to be codified in zoning changes to come—removing specified parts of the county from the fast-track, by-right pre-approval that assured developers purchasing sites in the hub they could build data centers on them without having to submit to zoning or planning board hearings.

Under the update, which also stipulates new design and environmental standards for data processing facilities, data center developers will no longer be allowed by-right in "place types" (neighborhoods) designated as either suburban mixed-use, suburban neighborhood, suburban compact or urban transit center (UTC) zones.