No data center is presently planned in the City of Williamsport, but City Council has moved on a resolution declaring the city’s zoning ordinance “substantively” invalid – as to excluding data centers.

The resolution, which passed with a 6-0 vote, includes the zoning presently not addressing ancillary buildings or use, including but not limited to power generating facilities and proposing the preparation of a curative amendment to overcome such invalidity.

In presenting the resolution, Councilman Jonah Milliken noted how it was prepared with the help of Solicitor Justin Houser. Councilman Vincent Pulizzi was absent.

“This starts a process,” Milliken said. “This is not any kind of a resolution barring data centers or encouraging data centers. This is just saying that we need to revise our zoning so we can be proactive and protect our community appropriately or do what is in the best interest of our community,” he said.

Data centers are physical facilities that house information technology infrastructure for building, running, and delivering applications and services, and store and manage the data associated with those applications and services.

The city residents have come to rely on data centers for their activities of daily life in the present-day economy, including to support their online banking, store and accessing data by using the internet.

Applications include queuing for ride share services, adding their information for River Valley Transit Authority, and medical information.

In the past few years, major advances in artificial intelligence have required ever more sophisticated data centers of varying sizes and types to support the immense computing power needed for the next generation of revolutionary technology.

These next-generation data centers require increasing amounts of land, side structures, a massive amount of energy to operate their equipment, which may be provided by on-site power generating facilities, other ancillary uses, and immense quantities of water to cool the servers associated with them, the resolution states.

Moreover, data centers can bring revenue and jobs to the area in which they are located, but can also constitute a burden on a community’s natural resources as well as a massive footprint in a community, the resolution states.

The adoption of the resolution began a 180-day timeline, a period of time allowing for the city officials to review the zoning ordinance enacted in1998 and amended since then but not in preparation for cyber storage centers or their ancillary buildings on their campuses.

“The city would still need to determine the process of how it was going to do it,” Milliken said, adding there is not a “pause,” so that should a developer make a proposal for a data center, the city would not be able to accept it during the 180-day period, he added.

Councilwoman Liz Miele asked Milliken if the city had a plan in place once the 180-day period is up.

“We have to do that and that would include working with the administration,” he said.

Further answering Miele’s question, Councilman Adam Yoder said he was aware the solicitor had a number of resources sent to him, including “by me.”

“I think he is already working on that,” Yoder assured the rest of the council.

“I think this is a good move as we spent a lot of time talking about how we need to be planning,” said Miele as her fellow council members also believed it was a good idea for including the city zoning officer in any discussion.