West Conshohocken’s council voted six to zero to adopt an ordinance that addresses the issue of data centers. One member of council, Richard Marr, abstained.

Things to note. The drafting of this ordinance preceded the recommended data center ordinance jointly created by the planning commissions of Montgomery and Chester counties. There is not currently a proposal for a data center in West Conshohocken.

The ordinance allows data centers by conditional use in the heavy industrial zoning district. The heavy industrial district line is Balligomingo Road and extends to the border with Upper Merion and the Schuylkill River. It is marked in light green on the map above.

The ordinance established conditions that must be met for a data center to be approved. For example, any data must commit to generating its own power on-site. From the text of the ordinance:

An applicant must commit to providing alternative power systems located on the same lot as a Computer Data Center that produce electricity from non-traditional or lower-emission sources, including but not limited to battery energy storage, fuel cells, microgrids, natural gas, and waste heat recovery, nuclear, or combined heat and power systems. A conditional use application must identify the type and capacity of onsite generation. Any Alternative Onsite Power Generation facilities must meet noise, light, glare, and setback requirements as required in the Ordinance.

You can read the full text of the ordinance here (starting page 45).