Data centers are permitted only as conditional uses in the I-1 Light Industrial and I-2 General Industrial Districts and are not permitted or eligible for special-exception approval in other zoning districts.

A proposed data center requires conditional-use approval in addition to zoning, building, land-development, and other required permits.

A zoning certificate must be obtained before a data center may be established, expanded, structurally altered, or occupied; where land-development approval is required, final Board of Supervisors approval must be obtained first.

A certificate of occupancy is required before occupying a completed or enlarged data-center structure, using land or a structure where no building permit is required, or changing the tenancy, ownership, or use of an existing commercial building.

Zoning-certificate and certificate-of-occupancy applications require Township-set fees and may be denied for failure to meet zoning or other ordinance requirements.

Temporary data-center-related uses require a temporary-use permit before beginning; the permit lasts only for the approved period and requires annual renewal, and uses requiring a special exception must first receive favorable Zoning Hearing Board approval.

No ground may be broken or construction started, and no operations may begin, until all required federal, state, county, Township building, zoning, and other permits have been issued.

Data-center buildings, equipment, and accessory uses must be at least 500 feet from specified agricultural, residential, commercial, and other zoning-district property lines.

Data-center buildings, equipment, and accessory uses must be at least 1,500 feet radially from any occupied residential structure.

A data-center site must contain at least 30 acres, have at least 200 feet of lot width at the building setback line, and comply with maximum building coverage of 40% and maximum impervious coverage of 65%.

Data centers and related equipment may not exceed 80 feet in height, including rooftop HVAC systems, water towers, generators, exhaust flues, and chimneys.

Each data-center building is limited to 125,000 gross square feet, and buildings must be connected by a minimum 30-foot-wide gravel cartway for emergency and safety vehicles.

Applicants must submit landowner authorization, licensed-architect renderings and elevations, and depictions of required screening, fencing, landscaping, buffers, and relevant topography.

Applicants must provide analyses of utility demand and infrastructure, including water, wastewater, emergency management, electrical connectivity, and potential impacts on residents and businesses.

Public-utility electricity proposals must include a utility letter certifying grid capacity, continued service to existing residents and businesses, potential grid impacts, and an executed utility agreement.

Public-water proposals must include an analysis of anticipated needs and sources; if public water is used, the provider must certify sufficient capacity, including fire-suppression capacity, and an executed utility agreement must be submitted.

Owners or operators must demonstrate approved wastewater-disposal capacity for domestic, cooling, and industrial wastewater, identify chemicals used in wastewater processes, and use modern filtration to prevent pollution or contamination.

Applications must include current water-conservation technology, including closed-loop systems where applicable, to reduce public-water demand.

Applicants must submit certified preconstruction and post-construction noise and vibration studies prepared by qualified professionals, with mitigation designs; the post-construction study is required before an occupancy permit is issued.

Mechanical or acoustically induced ground-borne vibration may not exceed the ISO Residential Day Vibration Curve, specified as 200 micrometers per second in any one-third octave band.

Noise-producing rooftop and ground-mounted equipment must be fully screened and use professionally designed noise and vibration attenuation; noise may not exceed Township Noise and Dust Ordinance limits.

Cooling, ventilating, power-generation, and power-supply equipment within 300 feet of a public roadway, 500 feet of specified zoning districts, or a lot containing a sensitive receptor must be fully enclosed unless mechanically infeasible; otherwise, approved visual screening is required.

A landscape buffer at least 100 feet wide is required between data-center uses and adjoining residential, commercial, or agricultural zoning districts, with specified native trees and shrubs.

Data-center buildings may not have blank exterior walls and must include adequate fenestration and horizontal and vertical breaks every 35 linear feet.

Fencing along public and private roadways may not be chain-link and may not use barbed wire or similarly visible intrusive deterrents unless fully screened as allowed by the ordinance.

Lighting must be limited to what is necessary for safe operation, may not spill beyond the lot or create visible glare, must comply with shielding and aiming requirements, may not be mounted more than 20 feet above grade, and after-hours parking and traffic lighting must shut off within 30 minutes of facility closing.

Power lines, wires, and conduits connecting data-center facilities must be underground at National Electrical Code-compliant depths, except in switchyards and areas within substations.

Power-generation systems supplying a data center during normal operations are treated as separate uses and require approval under the Township's Fossil Fuel Electric Generating Facilities Ordinance.

On-site turbines, generators, and diesel engines must be housed in durable buildings with noise and vibration mitigation, automatic fire suppression, and heat and gas detection; except for backup generators operating during outages, they may operate only from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Non-emergency maintenance of manual generators is limited to 8:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m.; each manual generator may run no more than 120 maintenance hours per year, with annual reporting and notice requirements for emergency repairs.

Battery or other energy-storage systems must comply with NFPA Standard 855 or similar standards and include fire-suppression systems designed specifically for battery storage.

Data centers and accessory uses must install automatic fire-suppression and detection systems with gas monitoring that comply with applicable NFPA and Township requirements.

A hard-top emergency-access road must extend 30 feet around data-center structures, remain maintained year-round, and support vehicles weighing up to 45 tons.

Owners or operators must provide annual firefighting and hazard training to Township and neighboring responders and pay for required special firefighting equipment.

Before construction, operators must submit truck routes, coordinate them with the school district to reduce impacts during peak school-bus hours, and provide a construction transportation plan addressing traffic and potential Township-road damage.

Operators must provide any required road bond when Township roads are used and comply with the Township traffic-impact-fee ordinance.

Access roads must be improved, dust-free, all-weather surfaces that prevent water, sediment, dust, or debris from reaching public streets; at least the first 150 feet must be paved with asphalt, and driveway permits are required where an access road adjoins a Township road.

Operators must inspect drainage facilities by robotic camera at least every three years, beginning before operation, repair damage within 60 days of discovery, and submit proof to the Township.

Facilities must use specified modern energy-efficiency technology, including Tier 4 generators or EPA Tier 4 Final equipment, and submit annual reports describing efficiency upgrades and relevant technological advances.

Before construction, owners or operators must submit a Pennsylvania DEP-related environmental impact assessment and any required studies concerning methane pockets over former mining areas.

Owners or operators must submit an emergency response plan covering fire suppression, hazardous-material containment, ventilation, evacuation, emergency access, hydrants, responder training, and annual professional fire-safety inspections.

Operators must immediately notify the Township and Emergency Management Coordinator of a failure, fire, hazardous-material leak, injury, or other catastrophic event, and no later than eight hours afterward, followed by a written report within 24 hours.

Operators must hold an annual public-safety meeting and conduct an annual catastrophic-event drill with Township, county, neighboring fire departments, and facility personnel.

Each year, owners or operators must provide proof of at least $25 million in liability insurance naming the Township as an additional insured, financial-security verification, complaint and incident summaries, and updated emergency contacts.

The Township may inspect a data center, its equipment, or accessory uses at any time with 24 hours' advance written notice.

Before grading or building permits are issued, applicants must submit a decommissioning plan and financial security equal to 125% of estimated decommissioning and restoration costs; the security must remain in effect until restoration is complete and be updated every three years or upon ownership transfer.

A facility is presumptively abandoned after 12 consecutive months without active operation; after a final abandonment determination, decommissioning must begin within 60 days and be completed within 180 days after commencement.

Decommissioning must remove structures, equipment, wiring, conduit, and foundations to at least four feet below grade and restore the site through stabilization, revegetation, and water testing.

When operations cease for more than 12 months or decommissioning begins, the operator must conduct environmental assessment, responsibly dispose of e-waste, secure and track hardware, decommission power and cooling systems, train personnel, document the work, and notify public-safety officials.

All electronic waste and recyclable materials must be handled at an approved disposal site, and the owner or operator must provide a hazardous-materials plan compliant with federal and state law.

Violations may result in civil penalties of up to $500 plus court costs and reasonable attorney fees, with each continuing day generally constituting a separate violation.

Data centers are authorized as conditional uses in the I-1 Light Industrial and I-2 General Industrial Districts, subject to conditional-use review and applicable standards; they are not permitted in other zoning districts.

The ordinance allows data centers and related accessory infrastructure on the same tract or on adjacent parcels developed as a unified campus, including substations, generators, utility lines, cooling and fire-suppression systems, water and wastewater facilities, storage, security, and administrative structures.

Data center development must use an envelope of at least 30 acres, with up to 40% building coverage, 65% impervious coverage, and buildings or equipment up to 80 feet high, including rooftop equipment.

Individual data center buildings may contain up to 125,000 gross square feet, and a 30-foot-wide gravel cartway may be provided between buildings for emergency and safety vehicles.

On-site power-generation systems, including turbines, generators, or diesel engines, may serve a data center if separately approved under the Township's fossil-fuel electric-generating-facilities ordinance.

Backup generators may operate during power outages without the normal 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday-through-Friday limitation that applies to non-emergency operation.

Battery storage may be included in a data center proposal if it complies with applicable National Fire Protection Association standards, including NFPA 855, and uses suitable fire-suppression systems.

A data center may obtain electricity from a public utility if the applicant provides required grid-impact information, an executed utility agreement, and documentation that the grid has sufficient capacity while maintaining existing service levels.

A data center may use public water if the provider confirms adequate capacity, including fire-suppression demand, and the required agreement and water-needs analysis are provided.

Cooling and industrial wastewater may be included in the facility's wastewater-disposal arrangements if disposal is adequately provided and approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Utilities, equipment, and stormwater-management facilities may be located within a required landscape buffer with written Township consent.

Existing vegetation and topography may satisfy all or part of the required landscape buffer if the Township determines they adequately screen the facility from residences, sensitive receptors, and public roads.

Equipment that cannot be fully enclosed for mechanical reasons may be screened with existing vegetation, principal buildings, an earthen berm, or a visually solid fence or wall.

Power lines and conduits generally must be underground, but above-ground power switchyards and areas within substations are expressly allowed.

On portions of the Zediker Station Road property, data centers may be developed if located at least 1,500 feet from any occupied residence.