The Dallas Township Board of Supervisors conducted Tuesday’s special meeting held at the Dallas High School.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
State Rep. Brenda Pugh speaks at Tuesday’s special meeting. Pugh gave residents some updates on what’s being done at the state level to regulate data centers.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Claude Street resident Junell Guarneri addressed the Dallas Township Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Fern Leard, a Dallas Township resident who is running for state representative against Rep. Brenda Pugh in November’s general election, speaks during Tuesday’s public comment section.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
DALLAS TWP. — Four months after passing an ordinance to regulate data centers in Dallas Township, the board of supervisors at a special meeting Tuesday approved an amendment to strengthen those regulations.
The updated ordinance was presented and discussed during a public hearing on June 17 at the Dallas High School, and was approved on Tuesday with minor revisions to the setback requirements.
Now, the minimum setback from all property lines is 400 feet and 450 feet from a sensitive receptor, agricultural use, street, stream and/or delineated wetland.
A group of residents and township officials who worked on the updated ordinance together initially had the setback requirements at 750 feet, but that was changed based on concerns from the township’s planning commission that it would be too restrictive given the size of the industrial zone, and could be seen as exclusionary.
The full updated ordinance can be viewed on the Dallas Township website.
During the public comment section, Jennifer Franza, who was one of the residents who worked on the amendments to the ordinance, said the ordinance was not perfect, but it was strong.
“It will provide our township with some protections,” she said.
Franza highlighted some updated regulations she felt were especially important, including expanded definitions of data centers and sensitive receptors, as well as more stringent guidelines for lighting.
Franza thanked the supervisors for working with her and other residents, but noted that the process hadn’t always been easy, citing issues with transparency and communication.
“We all want to protect our home and our community, so work on this can’t really end tonight,” she said. “We have to continue to be diligent, vigilant, and stay ahead of the game.”
Claude Street resident Junell Guarneri shared a similar sentiment and thanked the board for putting together a committee of residents and township officials to continue monitoring data center development.
“Data centers are ever-evolving. They’re ever-changing. They come up with more and more challenges as they keep straining community resources and let’s be honest, find loopholes to lack accountability,” she said.
In response, Dallas Township Supervisor Bill Grant said the board was committed to making sure the community is protected.
“Things are constantly changing with data centers, and six months from now, we don’t know what’s gonna be happening. We’ll keep an open communication with you and get the committee together with our engineers to make sure we have a strong ordinance and that the community is safe,” he said.
The revised draft of the data center ordinance that was passed on Tuesday resulted from three months of collaboration between the township and a group of residents, many of whom believed the initial ordinance passed on March 18 was not strict enough.
The board initially planned to hold a special meeting on June 17 to vote on the revisions, but based on concerns from the planning commission, that meeting was canceled.
However, because of public outcry, the public hearing set to occur before that special meeting did go on as scheduled, so residents could give public comment.
The board of supervisors previously considered passing a curative amendment, which would have allowed for a limited 180-day moratorium to adopt it, giving the township time to draft a more comprehensive data center ordinance.
However, Joe Moskovitz, community and economic development director/township administrator, said at a meeting on July 7 that the board was hesitant to do so because it would freeze the zoning ordinance for three years, during which no revisions could be made.
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