ALLENTOWN, Pa. – City lawmakers this week delivered on their pledge to further limit potential data center development in the city amid ongoing public scrutiny.
Council in mid-June approved legislation that limited data centers to the city’s two industrial zones and established minimum lot sizes for large projects.
Fewer than 50 properties in Allentown met that criteria, officials said, calling Bill 20 the "starting point" for data center regulations.
Members reined that number in further on Wednesday night as they unanimously adopted Bill 52.
With its passage, data centers can only operate on properties zoned for industrial manufacturing, and facilities that cover 50,000 square feet would need to sit on at least 8 acres of land.
Under the new ordinance, any data center must be at least 500 feet away from “sensitive receptors,” which includes homes, schools and child care facilities. That eliminates many of the properties that sit in the city’s industrial-manufacturing zones.
Bill 52 also established standards for how data center companies must decommission facilities when ending operations and bolstered requirements for public notice on data center proposals.
But it’s unclear how those rules will affect a new proposal filed Wednesday with Allentown planning officials.
Planning director Jennifer Gomez did not provide details about the new proposal at Wednesday night’s meeting and directed questions to Mayor Matt Tuerk’s administration.
Frank Kane, Allentown’s managing director, said city officials are now reviewing that application to see if it meets the new standards.
New regulations were in place since June 24 – when the city advertised its intent to change its regulations on data centers – under the pending ordinance doctrine, according to Maria Montero, council’s solicitor.
Council President Santo Napoli called the legislation “another step in refining the city’s regulations” on data centers, with further updates in the pipeline.
Allentown’s data center requirement for 500-foot setbacks is as strict as it can be while remaining a “legally defensible ordinance,” Gomez said. Municipalities in Pennsylvania cannot ban legitimate uses from operating within their borders, according to state law.
Allentown’s regulations on data centers will not affect a proposed facility on Emaus Avenue because the developer submitted an application before the city started the process to amend its zoning code.
But changes to the city’s noise ordinance will apply to the proposed data center and properties throughout the city.
Council on Wednesday unanimously approved Bill 56, which member Cristian Pungo called a benefit for anyone who lives near industrial zones.