The Data Center Divide
A policy snapshot ahead of the 2026 midterms. Mapping data center incentives, restrictions, and bans through legislation, regulations, and executive actions across all 50 states and 1,462 local jurisdictions.
Lower Mount Bethel Township
Anti-Data Center Policies
Lower Mount Bethel Township’s enacted ordinance still allows data centers in industrial districts, but requires conditional-use approval, studies, and 500-foot home buffers, which may increase costs and delays and limit sites.
current law · Lower Mount Bethel TownshipLower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, unanimously adopted data center Ordinance 2026-01 on September 14, 2026, resolving the placeholder number in this row's title.Lower Mount Bethel Township Ordinance 2026-__ (Data Center Ordinance)
What this means
The proposal would still allow data centers in industrial districts, so it is not a ban. But conditional-use approval, required studies, and 500-foot buffers from homes could add costs and delays and limit suitable sites, making development meaningfully harder.
People behind it
- Lower Mount Bethel Township
Proposed a zoning ordinance amendment to establish regulations for Digital Infrastructure Facilities.
- Lower Mount Bethel Township Board of Supervisors
Held a public hearing to consider the proposed ordinance and voted unanimously to adopt it.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements9
Data centers may be located in the Industrial District only with conditional-use approval.
Conditional-use applicants must identify the proposed end user.
Applicants must disclose maximum electrical demand at full buildout, identify project-related substations and other infrastructure, and provide utility-capacity documentation, including offsite utility records, applications and correspondence, and information on alternative substation siting or design.
Applicants must provide information on water supply, groundwater, cooling water, stormwater and process water, including applicable Delaware River Basin Commission thresholds.
The amendment sets a 500-foot buffer from residences, a 300-foot buffer from certain nonresidential Sensitive Receptors, and a 1,000-foot setback for fuel storage.
Operating standards address water consumption, containment, thermal impacts, noise, vibration, fire access and public safety, and prescribe certain mechanical, cooling, electrical or fire-protection design methods.
Applicants must complete post-construction noise and vibration studies or operational verification; these requirements are tied to release of subdivision and land-development financial security.
Applicants must provide a traffic impact analysis covering construction traffic, oversized equipment deliveries, haul routes, staging and temporary traffic control; the Township may require reasonable traffic-management or mitigation measures.
After prolonged cessation, specialized equipment and all buildings, structures and improvements must be removed. Financial security must cover decommissioning, removal, disposal and site restoration for the facility's life.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions2
Digital Infrastructure Facilities, including data centers, may seek conditional-use approval in the Industrial District, subject to the ordinance’s standards and review.
The Township does not regulate utility service, interconnection, or energy markets; land-use impacts remain subject to Township authority.
Sources
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