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Reading planning panel advances draft to regulate data centers amid calls for bigger setbacks and water protections
Summary
At a July workshop the Reading Planning Commission reviewed a draft zoning amendment for data centers, hearing residents call for much larger residential setbacks, renewable-power requirements and assurances that developers—not the city—bear water and utility costs; staff outlined a six-month expedited process and a planned redline for county review.
The Reading Planning Commission on July 21 reviewed a draft zoning amendment to regulate data centers, with residents urging larger residential setbacks and council and staff stressing environmental safeguards and a compressed adoption timeline.
Planning Manager Simon Wangolo told the commission the draft is meant to be proactive guidance rather than a prohibition, and staff have coordinated with a consultant and council to prepare the ordinance for public input and formal review. Planning consultant Jerome Skrinkowski summarized the redline changes, recommending clearer definitions, consideration of the MC (Manufacturing & Commercial) district as a conditional-use location, avoidance of conflicting overlay rules and environmental protections including setback guidance and required utility-impact assessments.
“It's not meant to be restrictive, but an opportunity for us to holistically look at our city,” Simon Wangolo said, summarizing staff intent to balance development with protections.
Public commenters framed the debate around proximity to homes, water use and noise. Ray Bettle urged the commission to increase the draft 200-foot and 300-foot residential distances “tenfold” to 2,000 feet, calling the current proximity “a matter of environmental injustice.” Christopher Garcia echoed concerns about noise, pollution and floodplain proximity and asked that any incentives or fee relief be accompanied by advance, advertised community feedback.
Consultant Skrinkowski recommended adding or clarifying terms in the definitions section, identifying a major-data-center threshold and requiring environmental assessments. He suggested a 500-foot buffer from perennial streams or delineated wetlands and that steep slopes and riparian corridors be considered in siting. Skrinkowski also flagged low-frequency noise (a persistent hum) as a technical issue that may require a sound expert to craft enforceable standards.
Councilmember Jamie Baez said two provisions added to the draft are especially important: a required community benefit from developers and explicit protections for waterways. “I would ask that the developer is responsible for their water pump and where their water source is coming from and not put that burden on the residents or the city of Reading,” Baez said.
Assistant Solicitor Michelle Mayfield and Baez explained the procedural urgency: council passed a curative-amendment resolution that gives the city 180 days to adopt regulations or risk developers arguing a lack of local rules. Mayfield described the resolution as a temporary pause that allows staff to draft defensible regulations rather than facing applications in the absence of standards.
The commission and staff also discussed technical matters: whether setbacks are measured from a property line or the center of a roadway, how the newly adopted TOD (transit-oriented development) overlay intersects MC and HM zoning, and that the city currently lacks a precise decibel-based noise ordinance; noise enforcement is handled in practice by disturbance at property lines and time-based rules. Planner Emily Diaz Melendez explained conditional-use reviews: applicants would appear before the planning commission, which would then recommend approval or denial to council; council would then conduct an advertised public hearing before deciding.
Staff said they collected comments about stormwater discharge, metering, e-waste disposal and peak heating/cooling impacts, and emphasized the draft will reference existing city code chapters (including a chapter staff noted as relevant to sewer/stormwater) so those standards still apply. Sustainability coordinator Bethany Ayers asked the commission to add language requiring data centers to be powered by renewable energy on-site or via a power-purchase agreement, noting the city's 2019 resolution to reach 100% renewable energy by 2050.
Simon Wangolo said the city will convene a working group (representatives from council, planning commission, city staff and county) to incorporate comments and produce a redlined draft to bring to the planning commission next week. If the commission agrees, it will forward the draft to the Berks County Planning Commission for a required 30-day review; after that the commission could formally recommend adoption to council, which would hold a public hearing and vote.
No vote was taken at the workshop. The planning commission scheduled its next regular meeting for July 28, 2026, where the redline and recommendation process will continue.
