The data center industry has made its way to Dickson City.

Dickson City is now the latest Midvalley community to receive proposals from data centers this year, joining Archbald, Jessup and Blakely. The borough received four proposals in late November for data centers on commercial land off Business Route 6, borough Manager Cesare Forconi said.

Although the exact details of the plans were unavailable Thursday, Forconi said the borough received four sketch plan submissions for data centers, each from a separate limited liability company.

With Dickson City’s four new submissions, there are now 11 data center projects proposed in the Midvalley alone, with five campuses in Archbald and two in Jessup. A proposal to build up to four data center buildings in Blakely was withdrawn in September amid community opposition. There is also a large campus proposed in Clifton and Covington townships along Interstate 380.

At the same time, Mayfield became the first Upvalley community to regulate the industry on Wednesday when council adopted an ordinance that made data centers conditional uses along Mayfield’s Business Route 6 corridor. Mayfield Council President Diana Campbell confirmed the unanimous vote in a text Thursday. Any data centers looking to build in Mayfield will now be required to adhere to a slew of conditions prior to receiving approval from council. Although the borough has yet to receive a data center application, borough officials attributed the move to watching the industry grow in neighboring towns and wanting to regulate data centers prior to receiving any applications.

Dickson City is also in the process of updating its zoning to address data centers. The borough held a public hearing Tuesday and will hold a second hearing Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the Borough Building, 901 Enterprise St., Dickson City, according to a public notice published Thursday in The Times-Tribune.

Dickson City initiated the process of amending its zoning ordinance, which on Nov. 16 when it ran a public notice in The Times-Tribune scheduling a Dec. 9 public hearing to consider making data centers special exceptions in the borough’s light manufacturing zoning districts, which encompass Enterprise Street near Eagle Land and undeveloped land southeast of Railroad Street. Special exceptions require developers to testify at a public hearing in front of the Dickson City Zoning Hearing Board while adhering to criteria established in the legislation, according to a draft of the ordinance.

Forconi did not have the precise locations of the data centers but said he was told they are proposed for highway commercial-zoned land, which largely encompasses Business Route 6 between Blakely and Scranton, including some green space above the road, he said. Higher up on the mountain, north of Business Route 6, the land is zoned as a more restrictive residential/open space designation, which Forconi said he doesn’t suspect data centers would be built there because, although Dickson City’s zoning does not currently define data centers, it never would have allowed them in that area.

In Pennsylvania, municipalities are required to allow for every type of lawful land use somewhere within their borders. Towns adopt zoning ordinances to regulate those land uses, but those ordinances might not address new types of industry, like the rapidly proliferating data centers.

If Dickson City adopts its proposed zoning amendment, data centers would not be allowed where they’re currently proposed, and Forconi believes it could eventually come down to a court decision as to whether the zoning amendment applies.

Zoning updates do not apply retroactively, which means that if a developer had applied to build a data center in October, it would be grandfathered in under the legacy zoning at the time of its application. However, Forconi hopes the new restrictions will apply because Dickson City had a pending ordinance when the data centers submitted their sketch plans.

“There is a case law that says pending ordinances are legal and must be followed,” Forconi said. “We’re hoping that that’s the case.”

Dickson City Council Vice President Robert Hall, who is also the planning commission vice chairman, said they had a good public hearing on Tuesday addressing the proposed data center ordinance, but because of time constraints, they scheduled another hearing in January to give residents more time to express their concerns.

“There’s no need to rush this,” Hall said. “It’s a big decision, and council understands the impact of the community, and we want to get it right.”

Addressing data centers is uncharted territory for local communities, he said.

“We’re certainly trying to learn some of the good things that other towns did, and maybe learn from some things that didn’t work,” Hall said.

Council President Jeff Kovaleski said that while Dickson City has to legally allow for data centers, he doesn’t believe the borough, and the valley as a whole, is the right area for them.

He worried how the industry will impact residents’ water and electricity.

“It doesn’t matter whether they’re in Archbald, whether they’re in Blakely, whether they’re in Dickson — everybody in the valley, it’s our electricity,” Kovaleski said. “It’s really going to be a hit to all of us.”

Kovaleski expects to incorporate feedback from residents into the data center zoning ordinance. The borough has to protect its residents, but the town also has to permit data centers somewhere, he said.

“We’re here for the residents,” Kovaleski said. “I’m not for data centers, but that doesn’t mean that you say they’re not allowed in your town.”