Data centers are prohibited in the VC, MU, and HC zoning districts and allowed only by special exception in the Industrial (I) district. The Industrial district is limited to two areas in the Township. The use table allows Data Centers only by special exception in the I district

A data center must comply with the underlying district's lot-area and bulk regulations unless the ordinance specifically preempts those requirements. Data Centers must comply with the lot area and bulk regulations

A data center building and its exterior equipment must be at least 500 feet from any residential district or existing occupied residential dwelling.

Each data center building is limited to 150,000 gross square feet. The limit may increase to 300,000 square feet only if the applicant demonstrates that the increase will reduce the number of buildings without adverse impacts.

Parking, loading, and interior driveways must be set back 50 feet from public street rights-of-way and 25 feet from other lot lines.

Truck parking and truck idling must be at least 400 feet from residential districts or occupied dwellings. The distance may be reduced to 300 feet only if required sound studies demonstrate compliance without relying on sound-mitigation measures.

Data center sites abutting sensitive receptors, residential uses or districts, or collector or arterial roads must provide enhanced buffer yards with plantings on an earthen berm.

Buffer-yard widths increase with the combined building footprint: generally 300 feet for footprints under 100,000 square feet, 400 feet for footprints from 100,000 to 250,000 square feet, and 500 feet for footprints over 250,000 square feet along specified streets and sensitive or residential boundaries.

Required buffer yards must contain specified quantities and minimum sizes of evergreen, canopy, ornamental, and shrub plantings, provide an uninterrupted year-round screen at least 12 feet high within three years, and be supported by landscaping and landscape-management plans at the special-exception application stage.

The Community Noise Equivalent Level may not exceed 60 dBA at the boundary of property containing a sensitive receptor or 70 dBA at the boundary of other developed property. Sound may exceed those limits by up to 10 dBA for no more than one cumulative minute per hour.

Data center proposals must include preliminary, interim, as-built, and post-construction sound studies. The post-construction study is due within six months after the certificate of occupancy and commercial operation, and violations require prompt remediation.

Rooftop and ground-mounted sound-producing equipment must be fully screened from view, with screening positioned to shield emitted sound. The zoning officer may also require a noise barrier or device when testing is inconclusive.

Substations are accessory uses but may not be located within 300 feet of a residential district or existing occupied dwelling, and they must be included in the required sound studies.

On-site power lines of 34.5 kV or less must be buried. Before occupancy, the applicant must obtain utility verification regarding capacity, infrastructure safety, cooling adequacy, electrical interference, and a third-party inspection of the electrical work.

Public central water and sewer must be provided. If public capacity is insufficient, the applicant must demonstrate alternative measures that meet all water and sewer needs without expanding Township services or facilities.

A qualified-professional water feasibility study must accompany the zoning permit application and address projected demand, nearby wells and streams, safe yield, impacts on groundwater and nearby water resources, and water recycling or discharge. The project may not be approved without sufficient water and without avoiding adverse impacts on nearby wells.

Projects withdrawing at least 100,000 gallons per day averaged over 30 days or making consumptive use of at least 20,000 gallons per day averaged over 30 days must provide proof of Susquehanna River Basin Commission review and approval.

Data centers must meet detailed façade and building-design requirements, including no blank exterior walls, fenestration and horizontal and vertical breaks, façade changes at least every 150 feet, and fenestration covering at least 30 percent of each façade.

Loading bays facing public roads or residential uses must be screened, and cooling, ventilation, and power equipment located closer to those areas than the principal building must be enclosed or screened by an opaque barrier and dense vegetation.

Rooftop equipment must be screened on all four sides, set back from the façade under specified sight-line rules, and placed as far as feasible from residential uses, sensitive receptors, or residential zones.

Lighting must use downward-aimed, fully shielded fixtures for horizontal surfaces and shielded fixtures for non-horizontal surfaces. Illumination may not exceed 0.1 footcandle at residential uses or 0.5 initial footcandle at nonresidential uses; LED lighting may not exceed 3000K, and luminaires may not be mounted more than 20 feet above the illuminated surface.

Data center equipment must be housed in a metered, grounded, pre-engineered metal-encased structure rated to resist an internal electrical fire for at least 30 minutes, with automatically closing fire baffles. Applicants must demonstrate compliance with applicable NFPA standards, including NFPA 75 and NFPA 76, and provide specialized firefighting equipment required by local emergency services.

Data centers must keep air pollution, dust, smoke, glare, exhaust, heat, and humidity from being perceptible at or beyond the property line.

Data centers and associated electrical infrastructure must comply with specified IEEE and ICNIRP exposure limits, and EMF may not exceed 2 milligauss above ambient background at the nearest property line or any point accessible to the public. Applicants must submit an EMF management plan, and operators must promptly correct verified EMF or electromagnetic-interference violations.

Construction and operation may not cause ground vibration above 0.2 inches per second peak particle velocity at the nearest property line or an off-site structure. Projects within 1,000 feet of residential uses, residential zones, or sensitive receptors require pre-construction and post-construction vibration studies.

A water feasibility study, environmental impact assessment, stormwater plan, PA-SHARE report, comprehensive-plan impact assessment, and analysis of alternatives, unavoidable impacts, mitigation, and critical environmental areas are required as part of the approval process.

A Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory report dated within two years of the application, along with any required agency clearance letters, must be submitted, and the applicant must comply with measures required to avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts to threatened, endangered, or special-concern species.

The applicant must coordinate with Township emergency-management and fire officials to ensure adequate in-building radio coverage for emergency responders and install enhancement systems when needed.

The data center must use best available cooling technology as determined at site-plan approval, including technology that minimizes reasonably achievable power usage effectiveness, potable-water consumption, environmental impacts, and noise.

All building roofs must be solar-ready, and uncovered roof areas must use roofing material with a solar reflective index of at least 78 for the life of the building. For buildings over 250,000 square feet, rooftop solar panels must be installed and operated before occupancy to supply as much facility power as feasible.

A decommissioning plan must be submitted with the special-exception or permit application and approved as part of subdivision and land-development approval. A facility is deemed to have ceased operations after 20 continuous months without data processing or storage, unless the owner demonstrates good-faith efforts to resume operations, and the plan must address removal or reuse of structures, equipment, foundations, utilities, and other infrastructure.

Decommissioning requires utility disconnection and capping, site stabilization, revegetation, hazardous-material disposal, a certificate of restoration, and financial security that the Township may use to complete restoration and recover additional costs if the owner or operator fails to do so.

Data centers are allowed in the Industrial (I) zoning district by special exception, rather than being prohibited there; they are not allowed in the VC, MU, or HC districts.

A data center building may be up to 150,000 gross square feet, with the limit increased to 300,000 square feet if the applicant demonstrates that the larger building will reduce the number of buildings without adversely affecting surrounding properties.

Truck parking and idling may be located 300 feet, rather than 400 feet, from residential districts or occupied residences if sound studies demonstrate compliance without sound-mitigation measures.

Existing vegetation may be substituted for newly required berms and plantings if the North Codorus Township Zoning Hearing Board approves the substitution.

The noise limits protecting sensitive receptors do not apply to a sensitive receptor established next to the data center after the applicant receives a certificate of completion or occupancy.

Sound produced for no more than one cumulative minute per hour may exceed the applicable CNEL limit by up to 10 dBA.

The maximum noise limits do not apply to emergency alerts, emergency work involving electricity, water, or public utilities when public health or safety is involved, snow removal, or road repair.

Noise barriers or other noise-reduction devices are discretionary because the zoning officer may require them only when noise testing is inconclusive.

Substations are expressly classified as accessory uses to data centers, allowing them to be included as part of a data center development, subject to a 300-foot setback from residential districts or occupied residences and inclusion in sound studies.

Data center accessory uses and data center equipment may be located on off-site easements or parcels when developed as part of the data center, allowing associated infrastructure such as substations, generators, battery storage, cooling equipment, and utility facilities to be situated outside the primary tract.

If existing public water or sewer capacity is insufficient, an applicant may use alternative measures to meet all water and sewer needs without expanding Township services or facilities.

A data center may continue operating without the sensitive-receptor noise limits applying to a residence or other sensitive receptor that is established adjacent to the facility after the facility receives its certificate of completion or occupancy.

A facility is not deemed to have ceased operations for decommissioning purposes until data processing or storage has been discontinued continuously for 20 months and the owner or operator has failed to demonstrate that good-faith efforts are underway to resume operations.

A decommissioning plan may allow structures and infrastructure to be beneficially reused instead of removed if the Board of Supervisors approves the reuse plan.