Lower Pottsgrove now speeding up writing of data center zoning
Lower Pottsgrove Township commissioners are accelerating the drafting of a data center zoning ordinance to maintain control over future developments. This proactive measure is spurred by the upcoming expiration of a regional planning agreement and growing community concerns about water usage, electricity rates, and noise from such facilities. Neighboring Limerick Township is already experiencing community unrest due to a proposed hyper-scale data center.
Lower Pottsgrove Township commissioners have agreed to expedite the creation of a local ordinance to regulate hyper-scale data centers. This decision comes as the township's protective membership in the Pottstown Metropolitan Planning Committee is set to expire in approximately a year, following Douglass (Mont.) Township's withdrawal. Currently, Douglass Township's existing data center zoning provides a regional umbrella, but its departure necessitates that member municipalities like Lower Pottsgrove adopt their own ordinances to prevent developers from challenging their zoning and proceeding with little township control.
Commissioner President Michael McGroarty emphasized the urgency, stating it is "imperative we get something on the books" within the year. Resident Tom Troutman, attending regional planning meetings for Lower Pottsgrove, expressed concerns about developers potentially overwhelming the township with legal challenges if no regulations are in place, citing the successful King of Prussia-based developer Brian O'Neill as an example.
Township Manager Ed Wagner and Commissioner James Hutchinson have been monitoring public hearings for data center proposals in nearby Limerick Township, where one 1.4-million-square-foot hyper-scale data center project is causing "community unrest" due to anticipated water use and potential electric rate hikes. Township Solicitor Jamie Ottaviano has already begun drafting a similar ordinance for West Pottsgrove Township, highlighting the broader regional effort to proactively address the influx of data center proposals and associated community concerns regarding environmental impacts, power consumption, and noise.