Data center development plans must be processed under the Township’s subdivision and land-development procedures, and applicants must submit all required studies and reports prepared by qualified professionals.

The Township Secretary may reject an incomplete application within seven business days; acceptance for filing does not waive deficiencies.

A data center site must contain at least 25 acres.

A minimum lot width of 300 feet at the setback is required.

Impervious coverage is limited to 20 percent.

Principal buildings and accessory structures must be at least 500 feet from all property lines.

Principal buildings and accessory structures must be at least 800 feet from residential buildings and environmentally sensitive receptors.

Staging and loading or unloading areas must be at least 1,000 feet from residential buildings and environmentally sensitive receptors.

Data center and accessory building height, including roof-mounted cooling and ventilation equipment, is limited to 35 feet.

A 100-foot perimeter landscape buffer and a 500-foot buffer from adjoining residences and environmentally sensitive receptors are required, subject to possible approval of existing vegetation or topography as part of the buffer.

A landscape screen at least 50 feet wide must separate the facility from residences, environmentally sensitive receptors, and public roadways, with specified native tree and shrub planting densities.

Required buffer and screening vegetation must be maintained and dead or noncompliant vegetation must be replaced.

Mechanical equipment must receive acoustical screening; equipment within 1,000 feet of a public roadway or a residential or environmentally sensitive receptor must generally be fully enclosed or screened by specified alternatives.

Roadway fencing may not be chain-link or include barbed wire or similarly intrusive deterrents, and all fencing must include wildlife-friendly design features.

Facades facing roads or existing residences must include at least two design changes every 150 horizontal feet, and glare-producing, fluorescent, and metallic exterior wall colors are prohibited.

Parking must be provided at a ratio of one space per 200 square feet of floor area, with at least one rigid-pavement space per employee on the largest shift plus three visitor spaces.

Outdoor lighting must produce zero illumination at property limits or street or private rights-of-way, use motion sensors that reduce lighting by at least 50 percent after 10 minutes without detected motion, and use warm-white lighting of 3,000K or less.

Outdoor storage of materials, fuels, or wastes must be contained against runoff, spills, and leaks, and must be screened and located within a fenced area.

Normal operations must meet a maximum noise level of 57 dBA during specified weekday daytime hours and 47 dBA at night and on weekends.

Applicants must fund preliminary, interim, and as-built sound studies, including studies during both peak- and low-foliage seasons; the final as-built study is due six months after the certificate of occupancy and before final escrow release.

A qualified professional must provide a vibration study showing that facility-related vibration will not be perceptible to humans beyond the property line.

Projects using nonpublic water sources require a detailed water feasibility study addressing demand, source capacity, drought scenarios, nearby wells and surface waters, impacts, and annual post-commissioning well testing.

Applicants must obtain Susquehanna River Basin Commission review and approval for withdrawals of at least 100,000 gallons per day over a 30-day average or consumptive use of at least 20,000 gallons per day over a 30-day average.

Water conservation measures such as reuse, recycling, or alternative cooling must be used, and water or geothermal wells must be at least 500 feet from the data center property line.

Before the first Planning Commission meeting, applicants must submit an environmental and community impact analysis addressing operations, traffic, materials, emergency services, water, sewage, waste, electricity, broadband, schools, and municipal revenues and expenses.

Applicants must provide an environmental impact assessment addressing air emissions, nuisance impacts, stormwater, comprehensive-plan consistency, alternatives, unavoidable impacts, mitigation, critical impact areas, and compliant materials disposal.

Blasting and comparable vibration-producing construction may not begin until private-well, road-condition, structural-condition, and pre-construction noise and vibration baselines are completed; the applicant must fund required structural surveys and install monitoring equipment.

On-site power lines of 34.5 kV or less must be buried, and substations must meet setback requirements and have year-round opaque landscaping or a screen wall at least 10 feet high.

Grid-connected applications must include written utility confirmation of sufficient full-build-out capacity and an agreement to provide service, identify required upgrades and potential impacts on other users, and mitigate identified impacts to the reviewing authority’s satisfaction.

Backup generators must use sound-attenuation enclosures so operation does not exceed 67 dBA at the property line; generator testing is limited to weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Fuel storage must be double-walled with secondary containment and leak detection, and any required Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure plan must be accepted before occupancy.

Applicants must provide air-quality evidence and PM2.5 testing within 30 days before application; operating facilities must provide quarterly PM2.5 data at specified perimeter and source locations, and noncompliant facilities must submit a reduction plan within 60 days and demonstrate compliance within 90 days after plan approval.

An Emergency Response Plan must be prepared by a qualified professional and accepted by the local fire department and emergency management services, with procedures for fire suppression, evacuation, access, responder training, and annual fire-safety inspections.

Facilities with battery or other energy storage must comply with NFPA 855, 2026 Edition, and provide fire suppression systems specifically designed for battery storage; approval also requires demonstrating adequate local fire-department equipment and training.

Before receiving a certificate of occupancy, the owner must provide financial security for decommissioning equal to 110 percent of estimated decommissioning costs minus salvage value; the estimate and security are reviewed and adjusted every five years.

After cessation or abandonment, the owner generally has 12 months to implement decommissioning, and continuous nonoperation for six months is deemed cessation unless the Township tolls the period based on a submitted plan to resume operations.

The Board of Supervisors may grant modifications only if the applicant demonstrates harmony with the ordinance, no adverse impact or danger, minimum necessary relief, and that literal compliance is unreasonable or causes an undue hardship due to unique property conditions.

Applicants must pay land-development and inspection fees and reimburse the Township for actual engineering, building-code, legal, consultant, and other application-related costs.

Site grading, construction, deed execution, or recording of lots is prohibited before approval and recording of a compliant Final Plan, except for limited public-improvement work allowed by the ordinance.

The Township may seek injunctions, abatement, damages, and occupancy restrictions, deny subsequent permits or approvals for property developed in violation of the ordinance, and impose continuing civil penalties with each continuing day generally treated as a separate violation.

The ordinance expressly allows Data Center Accessory facilities on the same tract or unified assemblage, including administrative, storage, security, fiber-optic, electrical-substation, utility-line, cooling, water, wastewater, fire-suppression, and temporary backup-generator facilities. These ancillary facilities may be developed as part of the data-center project, subject to applicable standards. (Data Center Accessory definition)

Applicants may hold pre-application consultations with the Township Planning Commission, which also recommends decisions on data-center, subdivision, land-development, and waiver applications. This provides a formal opportunity to address plans before submission. (pre-application consultations)

The Township Secretary must review an application for completeness within seven business days. If it is not rejected within that period, it is deemed accepted for filing, although acceptance does not waive deficiencies or irregularities. (seven (7) business day period)

The Board of Supervisors may modify requirements involving screening, required reports, building height, and minimum yard dimensions when the applicant shows that literal compliance is unreasonable or creates an undue hardship, the modification is the minimum necessary, and equal or better results will be achieved without harming public health, safety, welfare, or surrounding neighbors. (may permit the modification)

Existing vegetation and topography may satisfy all or part of the required landscape buffer if the Board of Supervisors, after recommendations from the Township Engineer and Planning Commission, determines that they adequately screen the facility from residences, environmentally sensitive receptors, and public roads. (existing vegetation is adequate)

Stormwater-management facilities may be placed within the required landscape buffer, although they may not be placed within the required landscape screen. (Stormwater management facilities may be located)

Rooftop and parking-lot-mounted solar systems are strongly encouraged, are treated as accessory to the data center, and facilities are required to be designed as solar-ready. (shall be considered an accessory to the Data Center)

Data-center development plans submitted before the ordinance's effective date remain outside the ordinance if they still have protection from changes in governing ordinances, preserving applicable prior approvals or vested protections. (no longer have protection from the effect of changes)