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After months of suspense and anxiety, the Muncy Township data ordinance is now available on the township's website for anyone who wants to read what the Planning Commission came up with to try to set parameters for any developers seeking to construct a data center within the township.
Right at the beginning of the ordinance it states, "Data Centers shall be permitted by CONDITIONAL USE in the Industrial Zoning District when approved in compliance with the procedures, standards and criteria contained in this Ordinance."
According to the 20-page document drafted by the township's planning commission, the criteria considered for conditional use include: compatibility with adjoining development and the character of the zoning district; impact on the economic value of other property in the neighborhood; satisfactory provision for ingress and egress, particularly regarding emergency access, traffic flow and control; the economic effects-noise, glare, odor-of the use on adjoining properties; and proof that the use will not impose any direct or indirect economic burden on municipal taxpayers or existing/future utility ratepayers for infrastructure upgrades, capacity expansion or operational impacts directly attributable to the Data Center.
The ordinance also sets the requirements for the size of the buildings, such as square footage and height-a concern for the fire department-as well as the size of the lots and the setbacks.
Residents whose properties abut the currently proposed data center in the township have expressed concerns about the noise emitted by the centers and also the light emanating from them. The ordinance states that there has to be a continuous vegetative buffer along all party lines of a minimum of 100 feet and located outside of any security fencing.
It must be "free of structures, dumpsters, storage/display areas, signs, loading areas or vehicle parking."
The ordinance sets planting standards for what can be planted and plantings "must achieve a dense opaque, four-season visual screen within 36 months of installation, consisting of native, noninvasive species."
One fear that residents of the township-not only those whose properties abut the proposed data center site-have is that their water will either be polluted or depleted by the data centers which require water for cooling their systems.
The ordinance addresses those issues, stating, No Data Center shall be approved without sufficient water for the proposed use and demonstration that proposed withdrawals and discharges will not endanger or adversely affect the quantity or quality of groundwater supplies or surface waters in the vicinity."
It also states that the data center applicant must try to find a water source from existing public or private waterlines before drawing water from local aquifers or surface waters. The data centers are expressly prohibited from using potable wells in the township for heat mitigation or to cool the data center.
"Domestic uses (drinking, washing, sanitation) shall use public water or approved wells; nondomestic uses (cooling, fire suppression) shall use river/stream water sources only," the ordinance said.
It also states that a closed-loop system for cooling is required.
"The facility must deploy the best available water-efficient technology. All data processing equipment and heat mitigation needs must employ closed-loop (air or liquid) cooling systems," according to the document.
It establishes water supply, environmental and geological impact requirements as well as post-construction monitoring and remediation of the water supply.
The ordinance also addresses requirements for energy infrastructure, power supply and communications, as well as emergency management, aesthetics and parking as well as environmental impact statements and traffic impact analysis and of course decommissioning of the facilities.