North Coventry holds off on data center zoning pause
North Coventry Township supervisors decided against immediately enacting a 180-day zoning pause for data center proposals. They currently have a year of protection from a regional planning compact, allowing them more time to draft a comprehensive data center zoning ordinance. Other regional townships are also working on their own regulations due to a wave of hyper-scale data center proposals and local opposition concerns.
North Coventry Township supervisors chose not to adopt a "curative amendment" that would have paused data center proposals for 180 days. The proposed amendment aimed to address a flaw in the township's zoning, which lacks specific provisions for data centers, as required by the state Municipalities Planning Code.
The supervisors' decision was influenced by the fact that North Coventry currently benefits from a regional zoning compact, providing it with legal protection from data center proposals for at least another year. This protection is due to Douglass (Mont.) Township, another member of the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee, having specific zoning for data centers. Although Douglass Township is in the process of leaving the compact, this process takes a year to finalize.
Supervisor Chad Dudonis and Chairman Bill Soumis argued that enacting a shorter, 180-day pause now would be premature and limit future options, as the curative amendment provision cannot be reactivated for three years. They believe the extended timeframe will allow Township Manager Erica Batdorf and her team sufficient time to develop a comprehensive new zoning ordinance for data centers.
The article notes that North Coventry is not unique in this challenge; other townships in the region, including West Pottsgrove, Upper Pottsgrove, and Lower Pottsgrove, are also drafting their own data center ordinances. The broader region and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are experiencing a surge in hyper-scale data center proposals, leading to local opposition primarily due to concerns about water resources, electricity rates, and air and sound pollution. Governor Josh Shapiro has spoken about "guiderails" for data centers within his electric grid security plan, though critics suggest these lack enforcement power.