Data centers are allowed only as a conditional use in the HI Heavy Industrial zoning district.

A data center must use a closed-loop, air-cooled, reclaimed, recycled, treated-wastewater, stormwater, or similar system that minimizes reliance on potable public water and avoids large-volume or continuous withdrawals.

The data-center tract must contain at least 20 acres, and each data-center building must be between 25,000 and 250,000 square feet and no more than 60 feet high.

A data center or accessory use may not be within 500 feet of the property line of an existing residential zoning district.

A data-center building may not be within 200 feet of another building on the same property or within 1,000 feet of another data center on another property in the Borough.

Any power-generation system serving a data center, other than customary backup equipment, is treated as a separate use and must receive approval under the zoning rules applicable to that use.

A substation is not considered a data-center accessory use unless the applicable zoning provisions expressly permit it as one.

Accessory bulk fuel storage must be located in the least visible portion of the property and comply with applicable setbacks from public rights-of-way and adjoining property lines.

Sites with gates, guard shacks, or checkpoints must provide enough on-site queuing space to prevent vehicles from stacking on public roads.

A minimum 50-foot riparian buffer must be maintained from each side of the top of bank of applicable streams and water bodies and from the boundary of the 100-year floodplain.

Principal building facades must use at least two specified design elements, such as changes in height, recesses, fenestration, materials, patterns, textures, colors, or accent materials.

Mechanical, electrical, fuel-storage, and generator equipment must be screened and accompanied by noise-mitigation measures; unscreened equipment requires a visually solid fence, wall, panel, parapet, or similar screen.

Data centers must meet specified landscaping and screening requirements, including an eight-foot average berm where feasible next to residentially zoned or used property, with a maximum 3:1 slope.

Parking must equal twice the maximum number of employees on the largest shift, with reserve parking equal to one space per 4,000 square feet of building area; reserve areas count as impervious coverage for stormwater planning.

Parking and loading areas may not be located between the building and a public road unless the required screening and landscaping are provided.

Exterior lighting must be full cut-off and fully shielded, directed downward, limited to 0.2 foot-candles at residential property lines and 1.0 foot-candles elsewhere, and reduced to minimum security levels outside normal operating hours.

Applicants must submit an impact statement addressing applicable performance standards and supplemental impacts, including utilities, air quality, fire and explosive hazards, glare and heat, waste, noise, odors, vibration, water supply, electrical disturbances, traffic, and environmental effects.

Applicants must obtain utility documentation showing service feasibility and must bear utility-related rate increases or capital expenditures attributable to the project rather than passing them to existing ratepayers.

Standby diesel generators must be high-efficiency EPA Tier 4 models, and all required EPA and Pennsylvania DEP air-quality permits must be obtained.

Applicants must prepare an emergency response plan for approval by the Borough Fire Marshal, Police Chief, and Emergency Management Coordinator, provide security information, meet applicable fire-lane requirements, and train the Marcus Hook Trainer Fire Department.

Applicants must obtain DEP-approved wastewater-disposal arrangements and may not store or dispose of operational waste on site; outdoor waste storage along building sides fronting public roadways is prohibited.

Applicants must complete a qualified noise study covering cumulative equipment noise and generator testing, and must complete an as-built sound study six months after a data-center building receives its certificate of occupancy.

Emergency backup-generator testing or recharge is prohibited at night and on holidays and is limited to weekdays from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, subject to Borough review and approval of testing protocols.

Applicants must demonstrate that odors will not be noticeable beyond the property line.

Applicants must provide a qualified vibration study, conduct pre-construction baseline testing, and ensure that sustained or recurring vibration is not perceptible at or beyond the property line and does not exceed 200 μm/s RMS in any one-third octave band.

If the project uses water resources, the applicant must provide a detailed water-supply feasibility study addressing projected demand, nearby wells and streams, groundwater effects, long-term yield, recycling or disposal, utility impacts, and study-preparer qualifications.

Applicants must document electric-service capacity, address impacts on electric rates or availability for nearby users, absorb directly attributable impacts, and identify energy-efficiency and sustainability measures.

A traffic-impact study must address daily traffic and emergency access and demonstrate that the facility will not adversely affect local road capacity or residential areas.

An environmental impact statement must assess operational, emergency-power, fire, fire-suppression, emissions, contamination, waste, noise, glare, heat, vibration, and other environmental impacts and identify mitigation measures.

Every three years after a data-center building receives a certificate of occupancy, the owner must submit a compliance report documenting continued adherence to performance standards and any corrective measures.

Expansion of a data center, its accessory uses, or a substation, including changes to parking, loading, or exterior equipment, requires conditional-use approval.

Before receiving a zoning permit, the owner must execute a decommissioning agreement, restore the site within 12 months after operations cease, and maintain financial security equal to 110% of Borough-approved decommissioning costs.

A data center using battery energy storage systems must comply with NFPA 855 and install approved fire suppression, off-gas detection, clean-agent suppression, and explosion-prevention or deflagration-venting systems; water-only sprinklers are insufficient unless engineering analysis shows equivalent protection and officials approve it.

During subdivision and land development, the applicant must pursue in good faith a Community Benefits Agreement addressing compliance, local hiring, emergency-service needs, community contributions, and operational impacts on the surrounding community.

Data centers are expressly allowed as a conditional use in the HI—Heavy Industrial zoning district, enabling them to seek approval to locate and operate there subject to the ordinance’s requirements.

Customary data-center accessory uses and structures—including UPS systems, backup generators, electrical equipment, cooling systems, fire-suppression systems, telecommunications connections, security facilities, fencing, and gates—are expressly recognized and allowed as part of a unified data-center development.

The ordinance allows a data center to be developed across contiguous parcels under common ownership or control and treats them as a single tract, providing flexibility in assembling the required site.

The ordinance allows screening for mechanical, electrical, and fuel-storage equipment to be provided by an existing principal building or existing vegetation, including vegetation within a landscaping or buffer easement on an adjacent property, rather than requiring all screening to be newly constructed.

Reserve parking does not have to be installed immediately; it is required only if the Borough Zoning Officer later determines that the facility’s use creates insufficient on-site parking. The reserve area must nevertheless be planned and counted as impervious coverage for stormwater purposes.

The ordinance permits emergency backup-generator testing or recharge on weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., while prohibiting such activity at night or on holidays, allowing a defined schedule for this necessary operational activity.

The ordinance allows data centers to use flexible water-supply and cooling approaches—including closed-loop systems, air-cooled systems, reclaimed or recycled water, treated wastewater, and stormwater—provided the facility minimizes reliance on potable public water and adopts water-reuse and conservation measures.