Buffalo Township implements 180-day data center moratorium
Buffalo Township's board of supervisors has approved a municipal curative amendment, effectively implementing a 180-day moratorium on new data center projects. This action allows the township time to draft comprehensive rules and regulations for data centers, preventing developers from using a landowner curative amendment process to bypass local controls. Other Butler County municipalities have taken similar steps to address data center proliferation.
The Buffalo Township board of supervisors has enacted a 180-day moratorium on new data center projects by approving a municipal curative amendment. This decision, made at a meeting on August 12, gives the township a six-month window to develop and implement specific rules and regulations concerning data centers within its code. During this period, developers are prohibited from proposing any new data center projects.
Township solicitor Brian Farrington explained that while not explicitly termed a "moratorium," the action serves this purpose by preventing developers from utilizing a "landowner curative amendment" process. This legal maneuver could otherwise be used by developers to potentially force through projects where data center use is not explicitly permitted or is only conditionally allowed. By initiating its own curative amendment process, Buffalo Township effectively blocks such landowner-initiated amendments.
The move by Buffalo Township mirrors actions taken by several other municipalities in Butler County, including Adams, Center, and Lancaster townships, which have also adopted measures to regulate the expansion of data centers. The proliferation of these facilities has become a notable political and developmental issue across Pennsylvania and the nation.