Allentown Zoning Board to Review Data Center Classification
Allentown's zoning hearing board will evaluate the city's decision to classify data centers as a "permitted, by-right" use for a proposed project on Emmaus Avenue. This comes after Camelot for Children filed a legal appeal, arguing against the city's classification of data centers as similar to manufacturing. The hearing is scheduled to take place at City Hall.
The Allentown Zoning Hearing Board is scheduled to convene this week to address a legal challenge concerning the city's classification of data centers. At issue is the determination that data centers constitute a "permitted, by-right" use for a proposed facility on Emmaus Avenue, a decision that has allowed the project to advance.
Quantm LLC, a Philadelphia-based data center developer, seeks to repurpose a 224,000-square-foot warehouse at 2401 W. Emmaus Ave. into a data center. The project requires approval from the city's planning commission before construction can commence. The controversy stems from the city's late-2023 decision to treat data centers as akin to manufacturing, a use permitted by right in the I-3 zoning district where the warehouse is located, due to the absence of specific data center provisions in the zoning ordinance at the time.
Camelot for Children, a nonprofit located near the proposed site, has filed a formal legal appeal through its attorney, Kevin Fogerty. Fogerty argues that the city's comparison of data centers to manufacturing is flawed, citing "gross disparity" between the two uses. He asserts that data centers do not involve processing raw products or creating finished goods, which are characteristics of manufacturing. Fogerty also points to Allentown's recently enacted data center ordinance as further evidence that the city itself recognizes data centers as distinct from manufacturing. The hearing is slated for Monday at 7 p.m. in City Hall.