Five data centers on the May 27th agenda for the Upper Merion Planning Commission
The Upper Merion Planning Commission is scheduled to review five data center land development applications on May 27th. These projects are located near the border with West Conshohocken and are not subject to the recently adopted data center zoning ordinance, as their applications were submitted beforehand. However, the Township and developer Brian O'Neill are voluntarily discussing adherence to new environmental and noise standards.
The Upper Merion Planning Commission has scheduled five data center projects for review on its May 27th agenda. These projects, located at 2100 Renaissance Blvd, 3200 Horizon Dr, 2201-2901 Renaissance Blvd, 411 Swedeland Road, and 600 River Road, range in size from 187,946 sq ft to 1,971,766 sq ft and are proposed across Suburban Metropolitan 1 (SM-1), Limited Industrial (LI), and Heavy Industrial (HI) zoning districts.
Developer Brian O'Neill is proposing these data centers, which comply with existing zoning requirements and do not seek any zoning relief or changes. Due to Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), these applications, submitted before the Township's recent zoning code amendments, are not legally bound by the new regulations. The MPC also prevents the Township from enacting a moratorium or outright ban on data centers, recognizing them as a legitimate land use.
Despite these legal constraints and the projects' pre-ordinance submission, the Upper Merion Board of Supervisors acknowledges community concerns regarding data center impacts on quality of life, environment, public safety, and infrastructure. The Township has enacted an ordinance to regulate future data center developments, addressing noise, energy, water consumption, size, height, and requiring significant residential setbacks and buffers. The developer has voluntarily agreed to discuss implementing the advanced environmental standards, noise mitigations, visual buffers, and safety safeguards established in the new ordinance, and will hold meetings with residents regarding the proposals. The Planning Commission's role is to review the applications and provide a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.