Supervisors send draft data-center ordinance to planning commission after questions about NDAs

Robinson Township supervisors voted to send a draft data-center ordinance to the planning commission for further review after public questions about confidentiality agreements and a debate over how far facilities should be set back from homes. A resident opened the exchange by asking whether any non-disclosure agreements had been signed in connection with data-center proposals, noting "this executive order . . . specifically say[s] that non-disclosure agreements in connection with data centers are impermissible." The board indicated no one in the township had been approached about an NDA, and then discussed zoning isolation distances.

The draft ordinance currently uses a 500-foot isolation distance to residential properties; some supervisors warned that pushing the distance to 1,000 feet or more could make the ordinance effectively exclusionary. Planning staff and the solicitor were asked to review the joint comprehensive-plan implications and possible legal effects. By motion, the board formally referred the draft to the planning commission for final comment and recommendation before any adoption vote.