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Earlier this week, I wrote about the growing backlash against the secrecy surrounding AI data centers.One of the biggest problems for residents is that you can't object to, ask questions about or even investigate a data center if you don't know one is coming. And apparently, searching your town's planning agenda for the words "data center" may not be enough.A new report from Erin Brockovich and Suzanne Boothby highlights some of the surprisingly ordinary language that can appear in zoning applications, permits and council agendas long before a massive data center project is publicly identified.That matters as the AI boom moves beyond the traditional data center hubs. According to Pew Research Center, 67% of planned U.S. data centers are in rural areas, while 39% are planned for counties that don't currently have one.So if you're wondering whether one could be headed for your community, here are seven terms worth knowing.1. Light industrial
(Image credit: Future)This might be one of the easiest phrases to overlook. Many local zoning codes were written before anyone had to figure out where to put an enormous building filled with thousands of servers and GPUs. As a result, there may not actually be a zoning category for "data center."Instead, developers can seek land zoned for "light industrial" or "heavy industrial" uses.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.That doesn't mean every light-industrial zoning request is secretly a data center., butt a request involving a particularly large piece of land — especially one near major electrical infrastructure — may be worth investigating.In Coweta County, Georgia, for example, early discussions around what eventually became the enormous Project Sail data center included rezoning rural land for light industrial use. The project is now planned as a nine-building data center campus covering more than 4 million square feet.2. Data processing
