Horry County's Data Center Zoning Policies Under Review

Zoning may not be the most glamorous topic in infrastructure development, but ask any data center developer who's watched a promising site get tied up in local approval processes, and they'll tell you: it's where projects actually live or die.

Horry County, South Carolina, is currently reviewing its data center control policies and zoning requirements — a development that deserves attention from anyone tracking infrastructure buildout along the Southeast coast. The review is in its early stages, but the direction local governments take on zoning almost always telegraphs where development momentum is heading next.

Why Horry County Is Worth Watching

Horry County is better known as the home of Myrtle Beach than as a data center hub. But that's precisely the point. Secondary and tertiary markets across the Southeast have been absorbing demand that primary markets like Atlanta and Charlotte can no longer accommodate at reasonable costs. Power constraints, land scarcity, and permitting backlogs in established hubs are pushing developers to look harder at markets that once seemed too small or too remote to bother with.

When a county that hasn't traditionally positioned itself as a data center destination starts formalizing its zoning framework, that's a signal — not just housekeeping.

South Carolina, as a whole, has been quietly competitive on the infrastructure front. The state offers favorable tax incentives for large capital investments, a relatively business-friendly regulatory environment, and — critically — access to power infrastructure that some larger markets are struggling to provide. Horry County sits at the intersection of those state-level advantages and a local growth trajectory that's been accelerating for years.

The zoning review, at its core, is Horry County trying to answer a question local governments everywhere are grappling with right now: how do we accommodate data center development without losing control of land use, community character, and infrastructure load?

What a Zoning Review Actually Means for Developers

Zoning reviews for data centers aren't one-size-fits-all. They typically touch several pressure points simultaneously: permitted use categories (does a data center go in industrial? commercial? its own special-use designation?), setback and screening requirements, noise ordinances tied to cooling equipment, and increasingly, power and water consumption thresholds that municipalities want to regulate before a facility breaks ground.

The specific amendments Horry County is weighing haven't been fully detailed in public reporting yet, but the fact that county leaders are reviewing both "control policies" and "zoning requirements" suggests this is broader than a single-use reclassification. That breadth matters.

For developers with active or prospective projects in the county, the window between a zoning review announcement and final policy adoption is the most important period — it's when input actually shapes outcomes.

Existing data center operations in the county will likely face scrutiny on conformance. If new requirements establish stricter standards — on noise buffers, utility capacity, or setbacks — facilities that were permitted under the old framework could find themselves in a nonconforming status, complicating financing, expansion, and eventual sale. Developers building new projects will be designing to whatever the updated code requires, which could add cost or, if the county gets it right, actually streamline approvals by establishing clearer expectations upfront.

There's also a competitive dynamic at play. Counties that establish clear, developer-friendly zoning frameworks for data centers tend to attract more projects than those with ambiguous or overly restrictive rules. Clarity itself is a competitive advantage in site selection.

Implications for Infrastructure Developers

For developers evaluating Horry County as a potential site, the timing of this review cuts both ways.

The risk: policy uncertainty. When zoning rules are in flux, underwriting becomes harder. Lenders and equity partners want to know what they're buying into, and "we'll know more after the county finishes its review" isn't a satisfying answer for a capital stack that needs to close in 90 days.

The opportunity: early mover advantage. Developers who engage with the county during the review process — attending public hearings, submitting comment letters, and building relationships with planning staff and county council members — are positioned to influence the framework before it's locked in. That's not about gaming the system; it's about ensuring that people who understand data center development are in the room when the rules get written by people who may not.

The counties that end up with well-calibrated data center zoning are almost always the ones where developers showed up early and helped educate local officials on what the technology actually requires.

Power access will be a determining factor regardless of how zoning shakes out. Horry County is served by Santee Cooper and various electric cooperatives — utilities that have generally had more available capacity than the investor-owned utilities serving larger metros. But large-scale data centers are power-hungry by any measure; a hyperscale facility can draw 100 MW or more, enough to reshape a utility's load planning. Developers should be mapping utility capacity in parallel with the zoning process, not sequentially.

Land basis in Horry County remains favorable compared to Northern Virginia, Phoenix, or even the Atlanta suburbs — areas where data center land costs have inflated dramatically as demand has outpaced supply. That cost advantage won't last indefinitely if the market heats up, which is another argument for moving on viable sites sooner rather than later.

Investor Perspectives: What to Watch For

If you're an investor tracking data center development opportunities in secondary Southeast markets, Horry County's zoning review is a leading indicator worth monitoring, not a reason to sit on the sidelines.

The variables that determine whether this review is bullish or bearish for the market are relatively straightforward to track. A zoning framework that creates a clear permitted-use pathway for data centers, establishes reasonable performance standards, and doesn't impose burdensome impact fees or moratoriums is a green light. A framework that over-restricts permitted locations, layers on excessive discretionary review requirements, or signals community resistance to the industry is a yellow — or red — flag depending on severity.

Watch the county council's composition and the planning department's posture. Are they soliciting input from the development community? Are the proposed changes framed as enabling responsible growth or as putting a ceiling on it? The language local officials use in public hearings often reveals the underlying intent.

Tax incentive alignment matters too. South Carolina's fee-in-lieu-of-taxes (FILOT) program and job tax credits have made the state genuinely competitive for large capital projects. If Horry County's zoning review is accompanied by economic development incentives targeting the data center sector, that's a meaningfully different signal than a review driven purely by land-use control concerns.

One non-obvious angle worth flagging: the growth of AI infrastructure demand has fundamentally changed the calculus on data center site selection. The power density requirements for AI-optimized facilities are dramatically higher than traditional enterprise or colocation data centers — we're talking 30-50 kW per rack versus the 5-10 kW that characterized the prior generation of facilities. A county that writes its zoning standards around yesterday's data center may inadvertently exclude the highest-value facilities being built today.

The Stakes Are Higher Than They Look

Horry County's zoning review may seem like local government process — the kind of story that gets three paragraphs in a regional business journal and then disappears. But the decisions being made in county planning departments across the Southeast right now are actively shaping where the next generation of digital infrastructure gets built.

Data centers represent billions of dollars in capital investment, significant property tax revenue, and — when the development is well-sited — relatively low burden on local services compared to residential or retail growth. Counties that figure out how to accommodate them intelligently will benefit from that investment for decades. Counties that get the zoning wrong will watch that capital flow to the next county down the road.

For developers and investors: engage now. The public comment period on a zoning review is not a formality — it's leverage. For anyone with a potential Horry County project in the pipeline, this review is the most important thing happening in the market right now, and the time to influence it is before the final vote, not after.

[INTERNAL LINK: data center development trends]

[INTERNAL LINK: zoning regulations impact]

[INTERNAL LINK: infrastructure investment opportunities]

EDITOR NOTES

• Consider cutting the paragraph starting with "The specific amendments Horry County is weighing haven't been fully detailed..." as it may feel like filler.
• Ensure that the internal links are relevant to the blog's content and appropriately linked.