Board authorizes advertising data-center ordinance after amendment to require planning/county comments

Township staff and counsel led an extended discussion about a draft Ordinance 305 to address data centers, a use not currently defined in the zoning code. The draft follows a county model and would allow data centers by conditional use in limited light-industrial districts, include a suggested 90-acre tract minimum, and impose conditions on energy and water use, noise, traffic, decommissioning and emergency response.

Several supervisors raised concerns about advertising a draft before additional review and expressed differing views on whether having a regulatory framework in place quickly was more important than additional refinement. Andrew Moore, speaking as a private citizen and member of the Planning Commission, asked for clarity about whether the advertised text could change and whether re-advertising would be required if edits were made. The solicitor and staff emphasized the motion under consideration would only authorize advertising and not adoption, and that the advertised language can be amended based on Planning Commission and county comments.

The board amended the motion to authorize advertisement "subject to comments from the Planning Commission, Montgomery County Planning Commission and staff," and then voted to approve that amended authorization. The change was proposed to avoid the township being exposed by having no framework if a developer filed an application before the township had its own regulations in place.