ALLEN TWP., Pa.- The Allen Township Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing next month on an ordinance that would create a designated data center overlay (DCO) zoning district.
If approved, developers looking to establish data centers in the township would only be permitted to put them within the new district.
The district would be made up of 15 parcels of land, more than 462 acres total, including the 85-acre site at 2500 Liberty Drive that is home to a warehouse already approved for a data center conversion.
The 15 neighboring parcels all are within Allen Township’s existing Industrial Commercial (IC) zoning district with addresses on Nor-Bath Boulevard (Route 329), Liberty Drive, Howertown Road, Horner Road and Main Street. They are a mix of undeveloped land and sites already utilized for industrial purposes.
Two of the properties — 2300 and 2800 Liberty Drive — are existing warehouses owned by Prologis, just like 2500 Liberty. But, unlike 2500 Liberty, the other two facilities have existing tenants.
Also included in the proposed overlay district are a pair of quarries owned by Holcim, formerly Whitehall Cement Company.
Any uses currently permitted on the 462 acres proposed for inclusion in the DCO district will still be allowed on those parcels of land.
The proposed ordinance also would add specific regulations for data centers, including sound and noise regulations, parking requirements, and electric, water and sewer standards, among others.
The public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Allen Township Municipal Building located at 50 Snow Hill Road. Township supervisors will first hear public comment before considering the approval of the ordinance.
What’s the latest with the data center that’s already been approved?
In March, Allen’s supervisors approved the conversion of the one-million-square-foot warehouse at 2500 Liberty Drive into a data center.
Township Manager Ilene Eckhart told 69 News no construction permits have been issued for the project as of Thursday, July 30, although Prologis did just receive its NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit for a separate substation that will be built for the data center.
An NPDES permit is needed from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for any business that wants to discharge into Commonwealth waters.
69 News also reached out to Prologis for an update on the data center conversion. The company would only say that the project is moving forward as planned, without offering any sort of timeline.
The warehouse was built in 2023.