At Monday morning’s meeting, NE Township supervisors began the process of creating a data center ordinance. Timothy Wachter, township solicitor, explained the ordinance would require a conditional use permit for any data center project and one would only be allowed in areas zoned for industrial use. In NE Township, there is very little industrial zoning, however, all of the parcels within that zoning are quite small in size compared to what any data center would demand. In other words, there is no property in the township where a data center project could realistically be built. Nevertheless, an ordinance needs to be in place since this technology is advancing rapidly and without an ordinance, a data center could target some other areas.
This very early draft the supervisors have, will be sent to the planning commission for review. The planning commission is scheduling two meetings to review the ordinance. All of the many concerns people have will be addressed. All of the requirements for conditional use will be specified. The ordinance will then return to the supervisors who will make the ordinance public in its proposed final version, setting a date allowing 30 days for the public to review it before a public hearing takes place.
It must be made clear, there is currently no proposal for a data center in NE Township. This ordinance is necessary to cover a rapidly advancing technology that has attracted a great deal of public attention.
As soon as the planning commission schedules their data center discussions, the schedule will be published here.