Planning Commission debates draft data center ordinance, cites enforcement and environmental concerns

At its May 21 meeting, the Springfield Township Planning Commission discussed a draft ordinance to regulate data center development, with members citing environmental protections and legal defensibility as primary goals. Commission member Travis Pantaleo introduced the draft and said it was based on the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code and informed by resources from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and PennFuture; he said the township lies within the Delaware watershed and that the ordinance should "prevent the township from being a 'soft target' for developers."

Commissioners debated several technical and legal questions. Pantaleo proposed adding a definition for ambient temperature to address heat dissipation from large-scale facilities, a change that Nicole Zane and Dave Long warned could be difficult to enforce or vulnerable to legal challenge. The body discussed defining "sensitive receptors"—schools, parks, hospitals and residences—to set standoff distances; members leaned toward treating data centers as a conditional use requiring Board of Supervisors approval rather than permitting them by-right in a designated district. Bruce Whitesell noted that Springfield’s large, inexpensive parcels and existing pipeline infrastructure may make the township attractive to developers, increasing urgency for a constitutionally sound ordinance. The Commission plans to solicit feedback from the township Solicitor and tentatively expects to review revisions at the June 18 meeting.