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Resident urges Peters Township to adopt data-center ordinance amid regional interest
Summary
A resident urged Peters Township to draft a local ordinance for data centers to address power, water, noise and emergency-response impacts, and offered sample ordinances used in neighboring jurisdictions; councilors said data centers are currently not an enumerated use and would default to light-industrial zoning until the zoning update.
Carol Ortenzo told council she attended regional forums and is urging Peters Township to draft a data-center ordinance to ensure protections for water, power, noise and emergency response before developers propose sites.
"Data centers...can also be the size of a Walmart," Ortenzo said, adding that large facilities can use substantial electricity and water; she offered sample ordinances (including a Center for Coalfield Justice template and a South Strabane draft) and recommended provisions such as mandatory sound studies, documentation of water demand and sources, electrical-service capacity documentation, emergency-response plans and community benefit agreements to fund public-safety or infrastructure needs.
Staff explained that data centers are not currently a provided use in the township zoning ordinance and therefore would be relegated to the light-industrial district while the township updates zoning. Councilors noted the zoning rewrite is the appropriate place to explicitly address such uses and that light-industrial parcels in Peters Township are generally small, potentially limiting where a large center could be built.
Ortenzo provided to staff a short sample ordinance and offered longer documents by email for review. Council did not take immediate action beyond accepting the materials and acknowledging the issue as something to consider during the zoning rewrite.
