L. SAUCON TWP., Pa. – Lower Saucon Township Council is preparing for data centers. At its Wednesday night meeting, councilmembers voted to send a proposed data center ordinance to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and the Lower Saucon Township Planning Commission for review.
According to township documents, the ordinance would allow data centers by conditional use in the Light Manufacturing (LM) zoning district when approved in compliance with the procedures, standards and criteria outlined in the ordinance.
“You’re not being pro-data center at all; you’re regulating data centers,” said council solicitor Steven Goudsouzian. “You cannot decide you don’t want to have data centers.”
“If you don’t have a particular use allowed, it becomes very problematic,” he said. “It is important to do this now, as other municipalities that haven’t done this are stuck with legal or other problems.”
Acting Township Manager Jay Finnigan said the ordinance is intended to help the township avoid data centers in locations where they are not appropriate.
Without an ordinance to control where they can be located, data centers could be constructed anywhere by right because current zoning does not explicitly address them.
The township is trying to stay ahead of a regional data center trend. In the Lehigh Valley, plans for two massive data centers are being discussed: a proposed six-building, 5 million-square-foot facility in South Whitehall Township and a 2.6 million-square-foot proposal in Upper Macungie Township.
In South Whitehall Township, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is reviewing a hyperscale data center campus proposed on more than 400 acres across from Parkland High School. The project by Atlas Industrial would encompass six buildings and an electric substation totaling about 5.1 million square feet.
The LVPC’s draft review of the proposal in South Whitehall suggests noise levels not exceeding 55 decibels or a level acceptable to the township. The traffic study projects nearly 4,000 average weekday trips, including 371 new morning peak trips and 265 new evening peak trips.
In Upper Macungie Township, a hearing is scheduled for the end of February to consider a data center plan on the former Air Products headquarters site. That proposal for three buildings on about 194 acres would total approximately 2.6 million square feet.
At Wednesday’s meeting in Lower Saucon, newly elected Councilmember Chad Heimbecker expressed concern that the township’s proposed ordinance might be too restrictive and could deter developers. Ultimately, council voted to send the ordinance for review.
“I think we should move this along and get input,” said Councilmember Laura Ray, in discussing potential water usage outlined in the ordinance.
“[Data centers] raise a big host of concerns related to the environment and community. If you don’t provide for a specific use, a developer may construct a data center wherever they want,” said council President Victoria Opthof-Cordaro.
Under the proposal, data centers and related accessory uses would be permitted only as a conditional use in the Light Manufacturing zoning district. The ordinance sets a minimum site size of 10 acres, caps building height at 50 feet, and requires a 200-foot setback from residential zoning districts and sensitive uses such as schools, parks and places of worship.
The ordinance includes extensive buffering, screening and landscaping requirements, including 100-foot-wide buffer yards with evergreen plantings, restrictions on exterior building colors, and limits on the placement of equipment near roadways and neighboring properties. Noise limits would be enforced through multiple sound studies before, during and after construction, with penalties for violations.
Applicants also would be required to demonstrate adequate water, sewer and electric capacity, submit environmental impact and water resource studies for high-volume water use, and provide emergency response plans reviewed by local first responders. The ordinance would take effect five days after adoption.
Conservation easements
In other business, the township voted to make the ruling reinstating two conservation easements in the Northampton part of the township’s permanent record.
The decision by Judge Abe Kassis in December reinstated two conservation easements, protecting 200 acres of forest from being developed by the Bethlehem Landfill.
Lower Saucon Township removed those easements in 2023.
About 82 acres of the expanded land would have been north-northeast of the landfill facility at 2335 Applebutter Road, with an additional 3.5 to 4 acres to the west, according to landfill engineer Joe McDowell of Martin & Martin Inc.
Single-use plastics
Council also discussed a resident survey concerning single-use plastics. The survey will include 14 questions to gauge residents’ awareness of plastic pollution’s effects on health and the environment.