North Coventry unveils data center ordinance draft
North Coventry Township's planning commission held the first public review for a draft data center zoning ordinance. The proposed ordinance aims to be as restrictive as legally permissible, addressing concerns from residents regarding environmental impacts, noise, and infrastructure. Public input focused on issues like groundwater, power generation, noise pollution, and decommissioning funds, while State Senator Katie Muth questioned the legal necessity of accommodating hyper-scale data centers.
The North Coventry Planning Commission convened its first public review of a 14-page draft data center zoning ordinance at the Norco fire station, drawing a significant crowd. Township Manager Erica Batdorf clarified that while Pennsylvania's "fair share" doctrine requires municipalities to provide for legitimate land uses, they retain the power to determine locations, create zoning districts, and establish performance and design standards, including regulations for intensity, setbacks, height, buffering, access, parking, noise, and environmental impacts.
While the draft ordinance targets the "industrial" zone along the Schuylkill River, it would not affect a separate proposal for an 85,987 square-foot data center in the former Coventry Mall, which falls under "commercial" zoning. Public comments and planning commission suggestions included extending setbacks, considering on-site power plants as separate uses, preventing backup generators from feeding the grid, mandating closed-loop cooling systems, and addressing the discharge from these systems. Residents voiced concerns about noise pollution, the need for developers to contribute to decommissioning funds, and requirements for emergency responder pre-plans and contaminant run-off management.
State Senator Katie Muth, D-44th Dist., challenged the notion that Pennsylvania law mandates accommodation for hyper-scale data centers, suggesting first responders should be more involved in the approval process. The township supervisors initiated the ordinance drafting after Douglass (Mont.) Township withdrew from the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee, which had previously shielded other member municipalities from the requirement to accommodate data centers. Solicitor Eric Brown emphasized the goal is to create an ordinance restrictive enough to protect the community but legally defensible in court.