S. WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. – Plans for two massive data centers are being pitched in Lehigh County.
In South Whitehall Township, a detailed review has been released for a data center campus that would be built on North Cedar Crest Boulevard, near Parkland High School.
Hyperscale data center proposal in S. Whitehall going under the microscope
In Upper Macungie Township, a hearing is set for next month to determine the fate of another data center plan at the former Air Products headquarters site.
Air Products hits pause on 2.6M-square-foot data center appeal in Upper Macungie
The proposed data center in South Whitehall Township totaling more than 5 million square feet, is moving into its review stage.
Plans for the six building, more than 400 acre proposal could completely transform current undeveloped agricultural fields.
The complex would sit across from Parkland High School, with homes, a chemical manufacturing company and more fields nearby.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is offering an deeper insight into the proposal by Atlas Industrial in a draft review..
Planners also raised concerns about the project’s potential emissions, noise and traffic.
They recommended noise levels not exceeding 55 decibels or a level that’s “acceptable to the township”
Their traffic study shows the campus generating nearly 4,000 weekday trips, saying “these average weekday trips include 371 new trips during morning peak and 265 new trips during evening peak times.”
The review also details plans for a new road. It would connect North Cedar Crest Boulevard to Mauch Chunk Road, south of the existing Mechanicsville Road intersection.
This project is twice the size of another massive data center proposal in Lehigh County.
Plans for a 2.6 million-square-foot data center proposal in Upper Macungie Township have been in the hot seat at township meetings.
Many residents expressing their concerns over the proposal that includes three data center buildings on a nearly two hundred-acre site.
A hearing, set for the end of February, will include testimony on whether the project will be allowed at the former Air Products site.
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission members will hold two meetings to discuss the South Whitehall Township data center plans. A comprehensive planning committee will take place on Tuesday, January 20, and then during its full commission meeting on Thursday, January 22.
Both meetings will be virtual.