Blakely Borough Council will vote next month to limit data centers to the northwest corner of the town above Business Route 6 while also applying nearly three dozen conditions and restrictions to any future data center developments.<\/p>\n
Two months after 100-plus residents packed the Blakely Borough Building<\/a> to oppose a now-withdrawn data center project proposed for residential land near their homes<\/a>, borough council voted Monday to advertise a zoning amendment that will regulate data centers. The amendment will make them conditional uses in a single section of town, requiring developers to adhere to dozens of conditions and attend a public hearing before council considers approving their request. Council unanimously voted to advertise the zoning amendment and scheduled a public hearing for Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Borough Building, 1439 Main St., Peckville, said borough Manager Chris Paone, who is also Blakely\u2019s zoning officer. Council will hold a meeting to vote on the ordinance immediately following the hearing, Paone said.<\/p>\n The zoning amendment defines data centers and related terms, establishes mandatory conditions; and regulates fuel and battery generators and energy storage facilities. It also adds zoning for short-term rentals \u2014 something Paone said the borough has been looking at for a couple years.<\/p>\n Paone said he spent close to two months working on the ordinance by researching data centers, including in Loudoun County, Virginia, which is nicknamed \u201cData Center Alley\u201d due to the volume of data centers; reviewing data center ordinances in Archbald and Jessup as well as elsewhere in the state; and consulting with the borough\u2019s solicitor.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to, No. 1, protect the residents while doing our legal obligation to allow a data center somewhere within the boundaries of the borough,\u201d he said. \u201cWe also wanted to listen to the comments and concerns of citizens that they made during meetings that we\u2019ve had, conversations that myself and other council members have had with residents.\u201d<\/p>\n Blakely\u2019s zoning ordinance, which council adopted in February 2017 and last amended in December 2020, did not mention data centers, though the borough pointed to a provision governing unlisted uses as an early protection as it worked on the data center ordinance.<\/p>\n