Luzerne County planners approve zoning plan to address data center development

The Luzerne County Planning Commission has approved a new zoning proposal aimed at regulating the development of data centers within its jurisdiction. This plan would restrict data centers to specific heavy industrial, light industrial, and mining zoning districts in 19 municipalities that do not have their own zoning ordinances. Under the proposed ordinance, "hyperscale" data centers (100,000 sq ft or more) and "major" data centers (20,000 to less than 100,000 sq ft) would require a special exception, as would "edge/minor" data centers (less than 20,000 sq ft). These exceptions would be approved by the county zoning hearing board. The ordinance also includes provisions for visual screening, noise reduction, and requirements for power, water, sewer, parking, and emergency response plans. The county planning & zoning department has been developing this proposal for nearly a year due to the increasing demand for data centers driven by AI and cloud services. Currently, the county's zoning ordinance does not specifically address data centers, creating a loophole where developers could seek variances in any location. While no data center proposals have been formally submitted, Castleton Commodities International LLC previously expressed interest in building a small data center near its Hunlock Creek Energy Center. The Luzerne County Council must now approve these changes for them to become law. Luzerne County Planning & Zoning Director Dan Reese noted that the proposal underwent four revisions since its introduction in February.