Bear Creek Twp. supervisors pass data center ordinance that doesn't expand industrial zone
Bear Creek Township supervisors adopted a zoning ordinance limiting data centers to the existing 66-acre industrial zone, rejecting proposals to expand the zone by hundreds of acres. Residents who opposed the expansion celebrated the decision, while a separate data center overlay proposal remains under consideration in neighboring Plains Township.
Bear Creek Township supervisors adopted an ordinance restricting data centers to the township's existing 66-acre industrial zone. The action followed months of organizing by residents, including the Bear Creek Protectors, who opposed proposals that would have expanded industrial zoning to as many as 534 acres and changed the zoning of numerous residential parcels.
Township Chairman Robert Suchocki said the proposed expansion was dead after residents urged supervisors to retain the existing industrial boundaries. The decision does not directly resolve a separate proposal in Plains Township to create a 592-acre Energy and Technology Overlay District. Residents also cited Gov. Josh Shapiro's direction that state environmental regulators evaluate data center permits only when projects have local approval and meet electrical-grid requirements.