Scranton still working on creating regulations for data centers, kratom

Scranton’s plans to regulate data centers and kratom in the city have been easier said than done.

Earlier this year, Scranton City Council introduced separate pieces of legislation to create rules and regulations regarding the advent of two areas of potential concern: data centers and kratom and its synthetic derivatives. Amending the zoning ordinance to account for data centers came first, in March, followed by a proposed ban on kratom and its offshoots, in April.

Council tabled the ordinances, two regarding data centers and two regarding kratom, for further review and that’s where they remain — on hold and still in the works — until officials are confident that either piece of legislation could avoid or withstand any potential legal challenges. At its last weekly meeting before its annual monthly recess in August, council last week kept both ordinances tabled. So the soonest either could come off the table for enactment, or rejection, would be September.

Here’s a look at each ordinance proposed in Scranton:

Data centers

As applications for data centers in Lackawanna County proliferated in 2025 and into 2026, none have been proposed within the city of Scranton. In a proactive move, Scranton took its first steps to regulate data centers on March 17. That’s when city council introduced a pair of ordinances from the administration of Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti that involve amending the city’s 2023 zoning to address potential data center proposals.

Updating the zoning ordinance to define and account for data centers would put in place parameters and safeguards for the eventual possibility, officials had said. Council voted 5-0 — with President Tom Schuster, Patrick Flynn, Mark McAndrew, Sean McAndrew and Jessica Rothchild all in favor — of the introduction of each of these two data center ordinances. Council then immediately tabled these two ordinances for further review. Schuster noted similar state legislation was under consideration and tabling the ordinances would “give us time for public input and public comment.”

Councilman Sean McAndrew added, “I’m also very happy and thankful that the administration is including us in it. President Schuster has been meeting with the administration regarding going back and forth, taking our questions. So I think this is a great example where we could work together to provide a great ordinance to protect our city,” according to minutes of the March 17 meeting.

The two companion pieces of legislation add terminology and language regarding data centers and create an overlay district for them, with boundaries to be determined. Additional zoning amendments also are anticipated to come throughout the year as pending state law regarding data centers continues to develop, according to the ordinances.

In Scranton, one of the proposed ordinances would add to the city zoning code the following: terms and definitions of data center, data center accessory use, data center equipment, high-impact (hyperscale) data center, moderate-impact data center, minor-impact (micro-scale) data center, information technology (IT) and nuclear microreactor; regulations for conditional uses and uses by special exception; and standards and requirements involving lot and building dimensions, deployment of operational and backup electric systems and power sources needed for electricity, emergency management protocols and required impact studies, according to a public notice in the March 12 edition of The Times-Tribune.

The other ordinance would amend the city zoning map to establish a “Technology and Energy Overlay” district and its boundaries; as well as requirements related to lot and building dimensions, signs, submissions of letters, studies, reports and operational plans, building location and orientation, architectural standards, screening and buffering, landscaping, deployment of operational and backup power sources, emergency management, required impact studies and operational plans, administration and enforcement provisions, and submissions for permits, according to a separate public notice also published March 12.

At the May 12 council meeting, Schuster said council was still waiting for information from the administration about fleshing out the data center ordinance. At each weekly council meeting since, Schuster has noted the data center ordinances remain “tabled until a public hearing can be held for a later date.”

Kratom

On April 6, Schuster, Flynn, the McAndrews and Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher held a media event at the Lackawanna County Courthouse announcing that council intends to prohibit in the city the sale, possession, distribution and manufacturing of kratom and its derivatives.

Council on April 7 then voted 4-1 to introduce a pair of companion ordinances regarding a kratom ban drafted by council without administration input. Rothchild cast the lone dissent.

A botanical native to Southeast Asia, kratom and synthetic derivative products are sold in stores in forms that include vapes, powders and capsules. The substance is legal in Pennsylvania and is commonly used to treat pain, coughing, diarrhea, anxiety and depression, opioid use disorder and opioid withdrawal. It was not approved for medical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration.

An initiative led by Flynn, a proposed kratom ban would take place via enactment of two nearly identical ordinances: one addressing adults and the other regarding minors.

This proposal drew both support and opposition from members of the public. While some residents applauded Flynn and council for taking a proactive step, others opposed to a ban said they rely on the kratom products for pain relief and other health reasons. Generally, they support banning the synthetic forms, and use by minors, but not the pure-leaf form.

Rothchild said her council colleagues kept her and the administration out of the loop, as no other municipalities in the state had enacted a citywide or townwide kratom ban, and bans that do exist involve synthetic versions. She thought the city legislation should more closely mirror the state bills and she questioned how a ban would be enforced.

Council advanced these two ordinances the next week, in the same 4-1 vote. Rothchild’s motions to table for review died for lack of seconds.

On April 28, council did then table the kratom ban for further review. Since then, council members reported progress in working with the administration on continuing to refine these ordinances.

Scranton resident Les Spindler, a supporter of a kratom ban, regularly has asked at weekly council meetings about the kratom ordinances still being tabled.

At the July 21 council meeting, council Solicitor Thomas Gilbride said, “Contrary to what you may think, there is a lot of work that goes into these kind of things. We do not have the ability to just at the drop of a hat issue things. We have to make sure that we’re protecting the interests of the city in everything we do. And that’s what this council has been doing and working on. We started the process so that we could move forward on it, which they have done. There has been so much work going on behind the scenes that you don’t even know about. So when you say that nothing’s being done, you’re just incorrect, sir.”

Spindler replied, “Well, why wasn’t all this looked into before the legislation was even drawn up?”

Gilbride said, “It was. But as you look into things, you find more issues that you have to deal with.”

Schuster has noted at weekly meetings that the kratom ordinances “have been tabled for additional input and information currently in process with both the city and Lackawanna County.”