Data centers and data center accessory uses may be located only in the I Industrial Zoning District and require conditional-use approval; they are not permitted by right.

The ordinance removes the Data Center Overlay District and deletes its designation from six specified parcels, eliminating those parcels' special overlay zoning for data centers.

The regulations apply to any new data center or accessory use proposed after the ordinance becomes effective, as well as upgrades, modifications, or structural changes that materially alter an existing data center's size or placement.

A data center building may not exceed 60 feet in height, including roof-mounted cooling, ventilation, HVAC, and cooling-tower equipment; accessory uses may not exceed the height of the principal building.

Data centers and accessory uses must be set back 200 feet from any residential zoning district boundary, existing residential use, or property line of a property containing a sensitive receptor.

At least one main entrance feature is required, and the applicant must submit artist's renderings and building elevations demonstrating compliance with the aesthetic standards.

Principal building facades must avoid undifferentiated surfaces by incorporating at least two specified design elements every 150 horizontal feet, including options such as 30% fenestration, material or color changes, changes in building height, or a minimum 15-foot step-back.

Cooling, ventilation, power-generation, and other operating equipment within 300 feet of a public roadway, residential zoning district, or sensitive receptor must be fully enclosed or screened by approved vegetation, buildings, berms, or solid fencing.

Fencing along public or private roadways may not be chain-link, with or without slatted inserts, and may not include barbed wire or similarly intrusive deterrence devices, unless the fencing is fully screened.

A landscape buffer at least 100 feet wide is required between the facility and adjoining residential zoning districts, existing residential uses, sensitive receptors, and public roadways. The buffer must use native plantings at specified tree and shrub densities, although approved existing vegetation or topography may receive credit.

Before approval, the applicant must demonstrate that the projected water supply is adequate and that withdrawals and discharges will not adversely affect surface water, groundwater, or neighboring wells.

A public-water applicant must provide documentation that the public authority will supply the required water. An applicant relying on nonpublic water must submit a qualified professional's water feasibility study covering demand, source, safe yield, recycling or discharge, nearby wells and surface waters, geological conditions, and potential impacts.

Projects proposing withdrawals of at least 100,000 gallons per day averaged over 30 days within the Delaware River Basin, or consumptive use of at least 20,000 gallons per day averaged over 30 days, must provide proof of Delaware River Basin Commission review and approval.

The applicant must demonstrate that wastewater disposal, including domestic, cooling, and industrial wastewater, has been provided and approved by the Sewage Enforcement Officer or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

A proposed grid connection requires documentation from the electric service provider that adequate capacity is available and that the provider will serve the facility; known impacts on electric rates or availability for other users must be identified and evaluated.

Energy-generation systems supplying a data center during normal operations are treated as separate uses, including solar, wind, fossil-fuel, and nuclear systems, and must be approved under the zoning rules applicable to those uses.

Electrical disturbances that adversely affect equipment beyond the property line are prohibited.

A qualified professional must prepare an Emergency Response Plan, which must be reviewed and accepted by the local fire department and emergency-management services and address fire suppression, containment, ventilation, evacuation, emergency access, hydrants, responder training, and annual fire-safety inspections.

Facilities with battery storage or other energy-storage devices must demonstrate compliance with NFPA Standard 855 or similar standards and install fire-suppression systems specifically designed for battery storage.

A conspicuous 24-hour emergency contact sign is required at facility entrances and must identify the facility, owner or representative, telephone number, and local power company.

A professional acoustical sound study is required, with normal-operation limits of 67 dB(A) during weekday daytime hours and 57 dB(A) during weekday nighttime and all weekend hours, measured at the property line.

Noise documentation is required at three stages: a preliminary mitigation report for conditional-use approval, an interim report during building-permit review, and an as-built study before the permanent certificate of occupancy. Violations identified by the as-built study constitute ordinance violations.

During power outages, the ordinary maximum-decibel limits do not apply, but sound studies must evaluate anticipated noise when all emergency generators are operating.

For facilities adjacent to residential development, sensitive receptors, or residential zoning, generator testing is limited to 7:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. year-round, and generator operation outside testing or commissioning is limited to backup or emergency use.

Outdoor lighting must comply with Chapter 390-56, and no direct or reflected glare or measurable heat may be perceptible at or beyond the property line.

Smoke, odorous gases, other odorous matter, or steam perceptible at or beyond the property line are prohibited.

Ground vibration that is recurrently generated by the facility must not be perceptible without instruments at the property line, and a qualified professional's as-built vibration study is required before the permanent certificate of occupancy and may be required later by the Township.

Activities emitting dangerous or harmful radioactivity are prohibited.

Outdoor storage must be screened by evergreen trees at least six feet high when planted or by a six-foot-high solid visual-screening fence.

Parking must meet the requirements applicable to a manufacturing and industrial use unless the applicant demonstrates to the Board of Commissioners that fewer spaces are adequate.

At the end of the facility's active use or project life, the owner must restore the site or alter it for beneficial reuse, including removing equipment, structures, and containment ponds that are no longer usable.

The owner must execute a decommissioning agreement requiring completion of the restoration or reuse work within 12 months after the facility ceases operating as a data center or accessory use.

After subdivision and land-development approval, the facility owner must post financial security to cover failures to comply with the decommissioning requirements.

The ordinance itself does not take effect until five days after enactment.

Data Centers and Data Center Accessory Uses are permitted by Conditional Use in the I Industrial Zoning District, allowing them to be proposed in the Industrial District rather than only on the six parcels previously designated for the repealed overlay. This applies only in the I District and still requires conditional-use approval.

The definition of Data Center expressly includes cryptocurrency mining, blockchain transaction processing, and server farms, allowing those activities to qualify as part of the permitted data-center use.

Data Center Accessory Uses may include administrative, logistical, fiber-optic, storage, security, temporary backup generators, electrical substations, utility lines, cooling-water and wastewater facilities, water-holding facilities, pump stations, water towers, and environmental-control equipment, provided they are on the same tract or a unified assemblage of adjacent parcels. Energy-generation systems used during normal operations are excluded and must be approved as separate uses.

The data-center regulations supersede conflicting regulations of the underlying district, providing protection against inconsistent underlying zoning requirements being applied to the use.

Existing topography and vegetation may be credited toward some or all of the required landscape buffer, if the Board of Commissioners determines—after recommendations from the Township Engineer and Planning Commission—that it adequately serves the screening purpose. The credited vegetation must be identified on submitted plans and confirmed on site before construction or clearing.

The applicant may provide fewer parking spaces than the manufacturing-and-industrial-use standard if it demonstrates to the Board of Commissioners’ satisfaction that fewer spaces are adequate.

During power outages, the maximum operating decibel limits do not apply, although required sound studies must evaluate anticipated noise when all emergency power-generation equipment, including backup generators, is operating.

For facilities adjacent to residential development, sensitive receptors, or residential zoning, generator testing is permitted between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. year-round; outside testing or commissioning, generators are limited to backup or emergency use.