Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Data Center Ordinance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning staff expands model data center ordinance with water, battery storage and decommissioning requirements
Summary
Planning staff proposed substantial additions to a county model data center ordinance — covering water use disclosures, battery storage containment, underground utilities, environmental impact assessments, and decommissioning — and will forward the edits to Banks and Packard townships.
Planning staff presented detailed edits to a model data center ordinance that the county and several municipalities are considering for Banks and Packard townships. Staff said the boilerplate language needed substantive additions to protect water resources, limit environmental impacts and address safety risks associated with energy storage.
Key changes staff recommended included: a minimum contiguous lot area (proposed 30 acres, subject to revision); landscaping and screening requirements with a two-year survivability maintenance period; sound and vibration studies with required remediation of deficiencies; detailed water-supply and water-demand disclosures (including source, projected withdrawals, recycled/discharged volumes and geologic mapping) and a requirement for Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) review for withdrawals of 100,000 gallons per day (10-day average) or consumptive uses of 20,000 gallons per day (10-day average) where applicable.
Staff also proposed requirements for power interconnection documentation, underground utilities where feasible, and strict battery-energy-storage system (BESS) siting and containment: enclosed buildings, 200-foot setbacks from property lines, and lined containment capable of holding potential releases, with disposal in accordance with U.S. EPA rules. Other provisions added include photometric plans with full cutoff fixtures, parking and queuing standards for truck ingress and gated-access protocol (Knox box for fire department access), limits on impervious cover (suggested maximum 75 percent), and a decommissioning plan and public-contact phone number for complaints.
Staff said the proposed ordinance amendments should be forwarded to municipal officials for local adoption and that they would send edited drafts to Banks and Packard townships for review. No formal regulatory changes were adopted by the commission at the meeting; this item was advisory and intended to inform municipal ordinance updates.
