Luzerne County planning commission to weigh revised data center rules Thursday
The Luzerne County Planning Commission will consider revised data center zoning rules that reduce proposed setback distances and loosen noise limits after county officials warned the original standards could effectively exclude data centers. If approved by the commission and County Council, the amendment would apply in 19 municipalities that use county zoning.
The Luzerne County Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on revisions to a proposed data center zoning ordinance. County administrators said the original setback and sound requirements could make it nearly impossible to site data centers in permitted districts and expose the ordinance to legal challenges as potentially exclusionary.
The revised proposal would reduce setbacks from sensitive receptors, residences and bodies of water, while allowing the zoning hearing board to grant additional reductions when projects meet environmental performance standards. It would also increase allowable sound levels to 55 dB(A) and 65 dB(C) at the property line. The amendment must clear the planning commission and County Council before taking effect in 19 municipalities that rely on county zoning.