On the July 28th agenda for the Lower Gwynedd Board of Supervisors is consideration of a resolution that would declare a portion of the township’s zoning ordinance invalid and initiate a process to amend its zoning code to establish regulations for data centers. State law allows municipalities the opportunity to make this declaration and provides for an 180-day moratorium on whatever type of development is being addressed. During this process, an application for a data center would not be valid, and any developer would have to wait to submit an application after the 180-day moratorium.

Please note that there is no publicly announced data center application for Lower Gwynedd Township. If there was, it would be considered under the current zoning code. Some townships are undertaking this process to prepare for a time when an application is submitted.

In a July 20th memorandum from Assistant Township Manager Jamie Worman to the board of supervisors, Worman writes about the need for such a resolution:

Data centers have become an increasingly important land use issue for communities across the country, and Lower Gwynedd Township is no exception. These facilities typically require substantial amounts of land, electricity, and water, and they may present unique impacts related to noise, lighting, utility infrastructure, and resource consumption. Despite these considerations,
the Township’s current zoning ordinance does not contain any regulations governing data centers. The absence of zoning standards creates a legal vulnerability for the Township. Because the ordinance does not address this legitimate land use, a developer could challenge its validity and seek approval for a data center under terms established through the legal process rather than through locally adopted regulations.

To protect the community from this risk and the Township’s ability to establish appropriate land use standards, the enclosed Resolution would declare the zoning ordinance substantively invalid with respect to data centers and initiate the curative amendment process authorized under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. This action provides the Township with up to 180 days to prepare and adopt zoning regulations specifically addressing data centers. During this period, the Township may temporarily defer consideration of new data center development applications while the ordinance is being developed. It is important to recognize that Pennsylvania law does not permit municipalities to prohibit legitimate land uses, including data centers, nor may municipalities adopt regulations that are so restrictive as to effectively exclude them. The Township may, however, enact reasonable zoning regulations that protect the public health, safety, and welfare while accommodating this use.

As Worman stated, Pennsylvania state law prohibits municipalities from banning a legal land use. To help municipalities address data centers, Montgomery County, in collaboration with Chester County, released a model data center ordinance in April for municipalities to use when drafting their own. This model recommends allowing data centers as a conditional use within industrial zoning districts. While it didn’t pass a similar resolution to establish a moratorium, Whitemarsh Township recently started drafting a data center-focused ordinance that utilized the county’s recommendations, along with a model ordinance from Penn Future, an environmental advocacy group. Lower Gwynedd has not yet stated what model ordinances, if any, will be utilized.

You can read the memorandum and draft resolution here (starting on page 187).

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