Doylestown Township supervisors voted unanimously Monday, Aug. 24, to advertise a draft ordinance that would confine standalone data centers to the township's light-industrial district and impose strict setback, noise and decommissioning requirements.
No developer has proposed a data center in the township. Officials said they initiated a 180-day curative-amendment process to close a gap in the zoning code before any application lands.
"This is all preventative and to get ahead of it," Supervisors Chair Jennifer Herring said at the meeting. "What we need to do is put parameters around the use."
Without such regulations, an applicant could challenge the township's ordinance as unlawfully excluding data centers, which remain a legal land use under Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code.
What the draft requires
Under the proposal, standalone data centers would need conditional-use approval in one of the township's three light-industrial zones. Facilities that serve hospitals, offices or government buildings as accessory components would be exempt.
Township consultant Judy Stern Goldstein told supervisors the ordinance is "not to encourage data center use in the township" but to define and regulate it so the township can attach meaningful conditions.
Key provisions reported by Central Bucks Now include:
- A minimum 100-foot setback, increasing to 200 feet where a facility borders residential property
- A preconstruction noise and vibration study paid for by the applicant, with the township able to hire its own reviewer at the applicant's expense
- An extensive emergency management plan
- 30 days to fix any noise or vibration violation, with extensions possible
Officials said the dimensional limits and the configuration of the light-industrial areas would make the largest hyperscale facilities difficult to build in the township.
Power limits, penalties still under debate
Supervisors discussed capping building size or power consumption to block cloud-computing and AI companies from building hyperscale campuses. Township Solicitor Michael Clarke warned that restrictions "cannot make the use practically impossible." A cap that effectively bars any data center could invalidate the ordinance and let a facility locate anywhere in the municipality, he said.
The board also weighed fossil fuel generator restrictions, renewable-energy incentives, payments in lieu of taxes and an electronic waste plan covering servers and batteries. One supervisor proposed requiring a disposal plan for decommissioned equipment. Officials acknowledged the township likely cannot mandate a facility's electricity source but could encourage renewables.
Supervisors said they want penalties steep enough that large companies cannot treat fines as a routine operating cost. During public comment, a resident urged officials to address electrical failures and fires in the emergency plan.
Regional context
Doylestown Township is not alone. New Britain Township supervisors unanimously launched their own curative-amendment process on Aug. 4. Newtown Township, Wrightstown and Upper Makefield adopted a joint data center ordinance that took effect Aug. 18, making them among the first Bucks County municipalities to finish the process.
At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and Bucks County native, introduced the "Data Center Bill of Rights" in August after a 15-county Pennsylvania tour where data center concerns topped every other issue. That bill would require a 2,500-foot setback from residences, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals and nursing homes.
What's next
The Doylestown Township ordinance returns to the planning commission for additional review. If the advertisement and review process stays on schedule, supervisors could vote on final adoption in October.
