Planning Commission says no data center proposal yet been made.
Dorrance Township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, is debating updating its zoning ordinance to address data center developments.
As reported by The Citizens' Voice, a recent meeting held by the Planning Commission saw more than 100 residents attend in order to hear the discussion.
According to township officials, Dorrance was approached by a real estate consultant asking about laws regarding data centers. Currently, the zoning ordinance does not specifically reference data center developments.
Kirk Buchanan, chair of the Planning Commission, told residents that the township has not yet had a data center proposal.
"We don’t have a plan before us. No one has requested anything. There was a rumor floating around someone might ask. That’s why we are here. We want to get out in front of it,” Buchanan said.
He added that while people may be concerned about the prospect of data centers, the township can't entirely rule them out, and that the officials had studied other areas' zoning ordinances to create a draft.
The first draft says that data centers must be limited to 250,000 sq ft (23,226 sqm) and set back 300 feet (91m) from other property lines. He added that he expects they will also be restricted to the two industrial zones in Dorrance.
Other requirements included vegetation buffers, water supply requirements, and noise standards.
The planning commission aims to adopt draft ordinance changes in August, with supervisors to vote on the law changes as early as September.
Dorrance is located northwest of Philadelphia, nearby to Salem Township, where Amazon Web Services (AWS) is developing data centers.
AWS has been looking to develop in Salem Township since early 2024. The company acquired an existing data center from Talen Energy and around 1,200 acres of land. AWS successfully rezoned 1,600 acres in the area to “Special Data Center Overlay District" in May 2024.
AWS plans to develop 15 data center buildings on the site over the course of the next decade.
Most of Pennsylvania's data centers are located in either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. Operators in the state include Iron Mountain, EdgeConneX, Ark, DataBank, Equinix, and 365 Data Centers, among others.
