Draft data center ordinance on agenda for Whitemarsh Township's planning commission

On the July 15th agenda (view) for Whitemarsh Township’s planning commission is a draft ordinance (data center section starts on Page 51) that would allow data centers by conditional use within six of the township’s zoning districts. Pennsylvania state law prohibits municipalities from banning a legal land use, and Montgomery County, in collaboration with Chester County, developed a model data center ordinance for municipalities to utilize when drafting their own. According to the documents included with the agenda, Whitemarsh Township used the county’s model ordinance, along with another from PennFuture, to develop its draft ordinance.

Please note, there is currently no proposal to develop a data center in Whitemarsh Township (that we know of) or has been posted on the township’s website, where it lists subdivision and development submissions.

In a review document for the ordinance, the need for a data center ordinance to be adopted is explained as follows:

The draft data center regulations are intended to safeguard the Township from the significant impacts that large-scale data centers can pose. These regulations are informed by best practices identified by planning professionals and advocates throughout the region. Because data centers represent a new and evolving land use, it is critical that the draft regulations provide a strong foundation from the outset and that they be enacted as soon as practicable.

The township, with the help of the county, identified “where data centers may be suitable and where they may be
inappropriate based on the presence of critical infrastructure and sensitive land uses. The main driver was mapping the locations of homes, schools, daycare centers, preschools, hospitals, community centers, and similar institutional uses. A 500-foot buffer was then placed around each. From there, they determined which zoning districts could be potential locations for data centers based on the buffers and certain types of infrastructure.

The zoning districts that were determined to be potential locations for data centers (note that this doesn’t include site-specific verification) are as follows:

AR Administrative and Research District
The brown areas on the lower end of the map

CLI Campus-Type Limited Industrial District
CLI-X Modified Campus-Type Limited Industrial District
Two shades of blue (not the brighter blue near the red lines)

EX Extraction District
The pink area in the center of the township

HVY Heavy Industrial District
The brighter shade of yellow

LIM Limited Industrial District
The duller shade of yellow

You can view this map (which is interactive) and search with more detail here. There is also a larger map on Page 67 of the agenda packet.

The draft ordinance goes on to outline regulations governing how data centers can be granted a conditional use, how they may be operated, and how they must be decommissioned if they were to close.

Below are a few items taken from the draft ordinance that involve the more prominent concerns about data centers.

Data center principal buildings and accessory uses shall have a minimum setback of 500 feet from any residential district, any property line of a residentially zoned and/or used property, and any property line of another sensitive receptor [schools, daycares, etc] – Section B(4)
A landscape buffer is required between data centers or data center accessory uses and any adjoining residential zoning district, sensitive receptor, or public roadway – Section D(1)
Any energy generation system designed or used to supply power directly to a data center during normal operations shall be considered an accessory use to the data center use but shall be subject to applicable Township, utility, state and federal regulations – Section F(1)
When an energy generation system is proposed as an accessory use to the data center, the applicant shall provide documentation describing the anticipated energy generation in relation to anticipated energy use and shall provide an estimate as to the amount of excess energy generated. Where excess energy is anticipated, the applicant shall either utilize battery storage or supply excess energy to the PJM region power grid – Section F(2)
The applicant shall select, design, and locate the energy generation systems to limit noise, emissions, and visual impacts to adjacent and nearby uses as much as possible. Data center principal buildings shall be located between energy generation systems and residential districts, or any other sensitive receptors – Section F(3)
Diesel generators shall meet Tier 4 emission standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – G(1)
Backup energy generation that uses diesel, gasoline, or another fossil fuel shall be used only at the following times:
- When the primary source of energy is not available due to an emergency outage
- During routine maintenance, or readiness testing for a short duration of time and capped at 100 hours per year.
- Routine maintenance testing of back-up fossil fuel-powered generators is restricted to the hours of 9 am through 3 pm Monday through Friday – Section G(3)
No principal use on a data center site shall use private groundwater wells or direct withdrawals from surface watercourses as its primary source of water for cooling purposes if a public water source is available – Section H(1)
Data centers shall be designed to include a closed-loop water circulation system to cool data center processing equipment. An applicant may propose an alternative cooling system that can be demonstrated to use less water and energy than closed-loop systems to the satisfaction of the Township Engineer – Section H(2)
Pre-construction and post-construction noise studies are required – Section J(1)(a)(b)
Sound levels at the property line shall not exceed 40 dB(A) and 50 dB(C) from 7:00pm to 7:00 am, nor shall they exceed 45 dB(A) and 60 dB(C) from 7:00am to 7:00pm – Section J(2)(a)

The planning commission is being asked to review the draft ordinance and make a recommendation to the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors can then consider its adoption after holding a hearing.

The planning commission meeting is scheduled for July 15th at 6:30 p.m. at the township building.

In the immediate area, the Borough of West Conshohocken and Upper Merion Township have adopted similar ordinances.

Draft data center ordinance on agenda for Whitemarsh Township’s planning commission