*LICENSE: CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication). No attribution is required in any adopted instrument.* --- # START HERE **Model Instruments for Data Center Development in Florida Counties · In-Kind Standard · Release 2026.4** Model ordinances, agreements and forms a Florida county can adapt for large-scale data center development. In-Kind Standard is the name of the citizen-prepared project that writes them. Releases through 2026.2 were published as the Automation Resilience and Community Benefit Framework. The release is published as two records. | Record | Contents | License | DOI | |---|---|---|---| | 1. Instruments | The model ordinances, agreements, modules and forms, the impact study outline, and the Drafter's Notes | CC0 1.0 | `10.5281/zenodo.24021154` | | 2. Guide, Open Legal Questions and Methodology | A plain-language guide, the open legal questions, and two tests for deciding what belongs in a county instrument | CC BY 4.0 | `10.5281/zenodo.24021153` | ## Two copies of each instrument Each instrument in Record 1 is published twice. The annotated copy, whose file name ends in `_annotated`, opens with a heading block that says what the instrument is, what it does, what it works with, what to settle before use and what its known gaps are, and it keeps the drafting notes that explain some brackets. The clean copy, whose file name ends in `_clean`, is the same text with the heading block and the drafting notes removed, as the starting point for a county's own draft; it keeps the instrument's title where the text has no title of its own, and the clean copy of the Exhibit "B-1" Outline and Methodology keeps its list of abbreviations. The Drafter's Notes are published once. ## Where to begin 1. **`Plain_Language_Guide_Release_2026_4.md`** (Record 2), if you are not a lawyer. 2. **`Model_Data_Center_Standards_Ordinance_v3_14_annotated.txt`** (Record 1): the standards a large data center must meet, adopted as part of the land development code. Every data center falls in one of three tiers, and every application receives a Development Unit determination, which counts together nearby land under common ownership or control. The standards on the physical effects of the use reach the largest tier, and most of them reach the middle tier where the County adopts Module M1. They need no agreement and carry no mitigation money. 3. **`Drafters_Notes_v1_20.md`** (Record 1): for each instrument, the blanks to complete, what sets each one, and the statute that requires the provision. 4. **`Open_Legal_Questions_Release_2026_4.md`** (Record 2): the legal questions the instruments raise, the answer the primary sources support for each and how firm it is, and the narrower questions left for county counsel. ## Which instrument, for what | The County is | Instruments (Record 1) | |---|---| | Setting standards for data centers | Standards Ordinance, with Exhibit B, the Data Center Technical Manual. Module M1 adds a conditional use review procedure. The County Procedure and Records Kit has the staff report, an insert for Module M1 reviews, the resolution, the business impact estimate, the hearing calendar, a check against existing rules and a model plan policy on data center water sources | | Charging data center development for public safety capital facilities | Public Safety and Emergency Power Impact Fee Ordinance: fire rescue and hazardous materials facilities and, where the County's study finds need and benefit, emergency medical services and emergency power at County facilities | | Agreeing with an applicant, at the applicant's choice, on mitigation of measured impacts | Host Community Development Agreement, its Exhibits and Forms, the Schedule of Supplemental Operating Covenants (Exhibit "S"), and the Exhibit "B-1" Outline and Methodology for the impact study. Module M2 adds emergency power at County facilities | | Leasing County land | Ground Lease, which attaches the County's standards and Exhibit "S". Module M2 may add emergency power at County facilities. Module M3, Part 2, applies if the Board takes part of the rent as computing capacity, in addition to cash rent of not less than fair market rental value, with any of the Module M3 Options the Board elects | | Not a party | A community organization and the developer may sign the Community Benefits Agreement, with its Clause Bank. The developer's computing commitment is paid each year in money for grants unless the organization elects delivery in kind, which Module M3 governs, with any of the Module M3 Options the parties choose | ## Before relying on any of it - No county has adopted these instruments, no developer has signed them, and no licensed attorney has reviewed them. - No county has commissioned the impact study or the impact fee study. Every dollar figure in operative text is in brackets. Each mitigation amount and fee is blank until the County's own study fills it, and rent comes from appraisal and award. In the private agreement and its Clause Bank, every bracketed figure is set by the parties' negotiation, and none is a recommendation. - Section 28 of Chapter 2025-190, Laws of Florida, bars every Florida county from proposing or adopting a more restrictive or burdensome land development regulation or procedure before 1 October 2027, because each of the 67 counties is listed in at least one of the federal disaster declarations for Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton. Section 252.422, Florida Statutes, sets similar limits for one year after a hurricane makes landfall, in each county listed in a federal disaster declaration that lies entirely or partly within 100 miles of its track as a hurricane. These limits most likely reach both a new or tighter data center standard and a new impact fee (Open Legal Questions, Question 3). The County Procedure and Records Kit has the County Attorney determine in writing, before any notice, whether they bar the ordinance. - Some terms of the Community Benefits Agreement are not yet drafted. The Clause Bank lists them. ## Changes between releases An error found between releases is listed in a dated correction note on the description of the record it affects, as prominently as the text it corrects. Where a new statute or court decision requires a change, the changed text is published as a new version of the record, with a dated note, after the same checks as a release. Every other change waits for the next release. Errors may be reported to contact@inkindstandard.org; each report is judged on its evidence, and no name is needed. ## Licenses Record 1 is CC0: no attribution, citation or credit is required in any adopted ordinance, executed agreement, staff report or recorded instrument. Record 2 is CC BY 4.0: a published copy or adaptation of it credits the author, and no text a county adopts comes from it. Only the navigation and license files appear in both records. *Prepared by Timothy Smith · Citizen-prepared working draft · Not legal advice.*