North Coventry is considering new data center rules after outcry killed a proposal. Other Chesco townships are doing the same.
The township denied the proposal before it was even submitted. Now it's looking to get ahead of future prospects, as are others nearby.
After vehement resident opposition halted a developer from submitting plans for a “boutique” data center in North Coventry Township earlier this year, supervisors are now asking township staff to take the first steps in crafting an ordinance to address such development if another proposal were to arise.
It is a scenario playing out in a number of municipalities in Chester County, as more data center projects crop up across the state. The proposals have increasingly become a struggle for municipal leaders, who argue they must allow for all types of development, even when their residents are adamantly against the projects.
The Times Herald first reported North Coventry’s decision to begin the ordinance process.
Local governments are trying to get ahead of the proposals to have more control over the final plans as new projects arise and existing ones attract ire. Three are proposed in Chester County, and more in the other collar counties, according to Data Center Proposal Tracker, a nonprofit that monitors the projects.
The surge to draft ordinances comes after Chester and Montgomery Counties published guidance to help elected officials navigate the influx of the complex projects, which affect anything from water usage to power supply to noise.
In North Coventry, anti-data center signs had already started to speckle yards when developer Envision Land Use came before supervisors in February to informally present its proposed “boutique” data center, situated adjacent to Route 100 at 299 W. Schuylkill Rd., in an industrial lot sitting near a Peco utility substation and a residential development.
The staunch opposition from residents ultimately led the board of supervisors to vote 3-2 to reject the project before it had even been submitted for consideration. After the outcry, Envision Land Use said it would take its project elsewhere.
Now, the township will undertake the beginning stages of crafting language around such projects.
Others are doing the same: Last month, Tredyffrin asked its township staff to begin working on an ordinance. West Bradford’s planning commission weighed language at its meeting this month. Uwchlan Township is in the process of developing standards for data centers — looking at noise, energy usage and on-site energy generation, water usage, and more — in its industrial uses ordinance.
In East Brandywine, a developer is seeking to change the township’s zoning to permit a data center at 500 East Reeceville Rd. Supervisors there last week appointed a special counsel for the proceedings.
The swell of activity comes as two Chester County data center projects, in East Vincent and East Whiteland, have rounded through the municipal process, with heated public meetings drawing opposition from the region.
As North Coventry begins the early steps of gathering information, the township supervisors would still need to vote on any proposed ordinance.
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