Township to rewrite data-center rules after Board invokes 180-day municipal cure

West Whiteland Township staff told the Planning Commission on May 5 that the Board of Supervisors has invoked a municipal cure, declaring part of the Zoning Ordinance deficient for regulating data centers and initiating a 180-day period for the Township to adopt corrective amendments.

John Weller, the Township’s planning director, said the declaration effectively places a moratorium on data-center submissions while staff and the Commission draft an amendment intended to close the regulatory gap. He said the Township’s draft follows model language similar to work PennFuture prepared for Allegheny County but includes a threshold to exclude small, incidental server rooms (the Township draft uses a 20,000-square-foot threshold in its current form).

Commissioners focused much of their discussion on noise, vibration and enforcement. Commissioner Virginia Kerslake said she has seen guidance urging setbacks of 1,000 feet for hyper-scale facilities and advised the Commission to use a recognized standard for allowable noise levels. The draft amendment already calls for a dbC (low-frequency) noise scale to address the particular sound profile of data-center cooling equipment and requires a preconstruction noise and vibration report by a qualified professional and post-construction testing as a condition of conditional-use approval.

Enforcement emerged as a central concern. Commissioners noted that the Municipalities Planning Code caps monetary penalties at $1,000 per day, a level some said could be a weak deterrent given the resources of large operators. Township Manager Pam Gural-Bear cautioned that pursuing enforcement through the courts would likely require expert testimony and that staffing constraints limit the Township’s practical enforcement capacity. Commissioners urged focusing on robust project design and setbacks to reduce the risk of adverse impacts that would be difficult to police after approval.

Weller asked staff to prepare a timeline with milestones so the Township can meet the 180-day requirement. Commissioners discussed technical mitigations (insulation, construction methods), the limits of the Building Code versus zoning and conditional-use conditions, and whether the Commission should require a third-party noise expert for both permitting and potential enforcement actions.

The Commission also noted recent related developments: a larger Green Fig data-center plan in East Whiteland was withdrawn and the applicant intends to pursue an earlier approved plan whose viability is unclear; stormwater basins approved to serve the withdrawn project will expire after five years if the project is not built.

What’s next: Staff will draft the ordinance language and a timeline of milestones for Commission review to meet the 180-day cure period; the Commission discussed seeking large setbacks, explicit dbC noise standards, and enforceable operations and maintenance agreements as likely elements of the final amendment.