Upper Providence Township took a significant step last week to prepare for the growing data center industry, adopting a zoning ordinance that defines what a data center is, where one can be built, and what standards a developer must meet before any data center application is filed.
Solicitor Zachary Sivertsen opened the June 15 public hearing by explaining the legal urgency behind the move. Without a formal definition in the zoning code, he warned, a developer could argue that a data center qualifies as a broader land use already permitted elsewhere in the ordinance, potentially allowing proposals in multiple zoning districts across the township.
He cautioned that if the board of supervisors delayed adopting the ordinance while attempting to strengthen it further, the township could receive an application before any of those new protections were in place.
"The township is exposed to letting someone come in with an application that doesn't have to meet any of those standards," Sivertsen said.
What the Ordinance Does
The amendment to the township's zoning ordinance defines data centers as a specific land use, limits them to the M2 industrial district in the Oaks area near the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, and establishes a series of conditions developers must satisfy before receiving conditional use approval.
The ordinance was adapted from a model ordinance developed by the Montgomery County Planning Commission, according to Director of Planning and Zoning Geoff Grace.
Key requirements include providing information on water usage, energy consumption, emergency services, and on-site equipment emergency responders would need to understand before responding to an incident.
The ordinance also establishes a 1,000-foot setback from residential uses and other "sensitive receptors," including schools, daycares, and community centers, with the possibility of reducing that distance to 500 feet at the board's discretion if a developer demonstrates it exceeds heightened environmental and noise standards.
Grace explained that the 2,500-foot setback discussed earlier by the township's planning commission would likely make the ordinance legally exclusionary because no parcel in Upper Providence appears large enough to accommodate that requirement.
"Our goal here is not to make it impossible, because that's when we open ourselves up," Grace said. "But we don't make it easy by any stretch."
Residents and a State Senator Voice Concerns
Public comment drew several residents along with State Sen. Katie Muth, who arrived after attending another township meeting involving a separate data center issue.
"Every single day there's a new data center proposal being announced in this Commonwealth," Muth said, adding that she believed there were roughly 74 proposals statewide.
She urged the board to increase setbacks, add a decommissioning requirement for developers to dismantle abandoned facilities, and warned that high-voltage transmission lines running through the township could make the area attractive for future development.
"This local government is the saving grace, the protective body in the whole Commonwealth," she said. "The state government is not coming to save the day."
Upper Providence resident Ben Neville, who said he has spent 20 years working in IT and AI governance, raised concerns about continuous noise, light pollution, water usage, and electrical demand associated with large data centers.
"Its development of infrastructure is being deployed far faster than we are able to govern it," he said.
Board Approves Ordinance, Plans Quick Revisions
Supervisors unanimously approved the ordinance, but Board Chair Kelly Stevens made clear she expects it to be revised again quickly.
She said she wants the township to add a decommissioning requirement that would hold developers responsible for removing facilities if they are abandoned, and called for amendments to be prepared as soon as possible.
"I want a new one written and an ad hoc meeting if we need to, to get the updates," Stevens said.
Sivertsen recommended placing any changes, including a decommissioning requirement, into a follow-up ordinance targeted for late summer rather than delaying adoption of the current ordinance and leaving the township vulnerable to an application under its existing zoning code.
Grace said township staff are already compiling technical revisions that could be incorporated into the next round of amendments.
No data center applications are currently pending in Upper Providence Township. In neighboring Limerick Township, a conditional use hearing is underway for a large-scale data center near the Limerick Generating Station. That township is also actively revising its data center regulations. Meanwhile, in nearby East Vincent, supervisors denied an application for a data center on the Pennhurst site in May.
This article was generated with AI assistance. All content was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by John McGuire.
