Council authorizes advertising hearing for Venice project zoning amendment; county staff suggested data-center limits

Columbia Borough Council on July 15 authorized staff to advertise a public hearing on a proposed zoning amendment for the Lake Business District connected to the Venice project.

The motion to advertise the hearing was made by Councilperson Bergard and seconded by Councilperson Stowell and passed unanimously. Council packets included a recommendation memo from Lancaster County planning staff; county staff advised that the proposed amendment should consider limits on maximum building area for data centers or require conditional use review because data centers can have significant power and water demands.

Council discussion did not adopt a maximum building footprint or conditional-use requirement at the meeting. One council member noted the borough can adopt targeted restrictions later if the council deems them necessary after more information. Councilperson Bergard said the borough's planning staff had been invited to participate in a county exercise on municipal options for data-center regulations and that the borough would monitor best practices.

The hearing will be scheduled as advertised and will include the county document provided to the borough; council will accept public comment at the hearing. No final zoning change was adopted; the authorization was only to publish a public hearing notice and accompanying ordinance text for council consideration at a later meeting.

Next steps: staff to publish hearing notice, include county planning comments in the record, and bring the ordinance to a future meeting for deliberation and vote following public input.