Data centers are expressly classified as land developments, including a single nonresidential building, making them subject to McKean County land-development review.

Applicants for nonresidential developments must submit preliminary and final plans, and the preliminary plan must include tree-removal, fire-protection, noise-mitigation, liability-insurance, decommissioning, orphan-well, and escrow documentation.

Nonresidential developments involving more than 10 acres may clear no more than 50% of the wooded area, subject to limited treatment of invasive species, and remaining woodlands must connect with adjacent woodland corridors where available.

Before construction or approval, developers clearing trees must stake construction areas and submit a written inventory of trees at least six inches in caliper in the designated protection area; no approval or permit may issue until the County determines the inventory is accurate.

Trees materially damaged or removed within the protection area after construction must be replaced with specified numbers and minimum calipers of trees of the same type.

Developers must submit a fire-protection plan and pay for an assessment of the project’s effects on dispatching, fire-station locations, staffing, equipment, water supplies, and specialized firefighting capabilities; mitigation may be required if existing departments cannot maintain service levels.

If the County identifies elevated wildfire risk, it may require a wildfire-hazard assessment and mitigation plan for each structure or piece of equipment, and final approval cannot issue until the assessment and required mitigation are completed to the County’s satisfaction.

Developers must obtain a preconstruction acoustic assessment establishing ambient day-and-night sound levels and submit a plan limiting sustained operational noise to no more than 3 decibels above that baseline; operational sound is subject to periodic testing.

Operators must maintain liability insurance of at least $2 million per occurrence and $5 million in the aggregate, including pollution liability, with an insurer rated at least A- by A.M. Best or equivalent; the County may require higher limits.

Before construction, developers must post cash escrow equal to at least 110% of an independent engineer’s decommissioning and restoration estimate; salvage value cannot reduce the security, corporate guarantees and surety bonds are unacceptable, and the estimate and security must be reviewed at least every three years.

At abandonment or the end of the facility’s life, the developer must remove equipment, buildings, foundations, roads, fencing, cabling, poles, and other infrastructure; restore soils, grading, drainage, topsoil, vegetation, wetlands, and streams as necessary; and may not dispose of components on site.

A nonresidential commercial or industrial facility is presumed abandoned after 12 consecutive months without operations or production, or after the owner fails to respond to County communications for 60 days, allowing the County to draw on the decommissioning security.

Developers of nonresidential developments on parcels or tracts larger than 10 acres must submit an orphan-well plan addressing well identification, site access, plugging, stray gas, aquifer protection, security, and liability protection; the County may deny applications that fail to address these issues or are manifestly unreasonable.

Developers of nonresidential developments on parcels larger than 10 acres must deposit at least $10,000 into an escrow account before the application is deemed complete, replenish it within 10 days whenever it falls below $3,000, and pay eligible County review costs from the account, capped at $100,000.

Pre-application consultation with Planning Commission staff is optional, allowing an applicant to proceed without that preliminary meeting. Meet and Consult with the Planning Commission Staff (Optional)

A developer may seek approval for liability-insurance limits different from the standard $2 million per occurrence and $5 million aggregate amounts by documenting typical coverage limits for its industry; the County may still require higher limits for higher-risk uses. developers may seek a waiver

Decommissioning and restoration requirements may be waived or replaced with another agreed method when they are inappropriate for the industry or use, subject to approval by the County Engineer and County Commissioners. Any of the foregoing provisions can be waived

If another local government already requires decommissioning security, the developer may seek a partial or complete waiver of the County’s security requirement, provided the required intergovernmental agreement transfers the security to the County in specified abandonment circumstances. may seek approval from the County Engineer to waive some or all of the security

For projects over 10 acres, an applicant with a reasonable orphan-well plan addressing each listed issue may not be denied solely for failing to meet unspecified standards; later standards apply to future development. will not have their applications denied

For nonresidential projects over 10 acres, County review charges covered by the applicant’s escrow are capped at $100,000 in total, and any unused escrow balance is returned after final approval. shall not exceed $100,000 and Any monies left over