BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Bethlehem City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday to give final approval to the city\u2019s first zoning standards for data centers, but a city official revealed at the meeting that a second proposal, filed before the vote, will be reviewed under the old code along with the project on Industrial Drive.<\/p>\n
Laura Collins, the city\u2019s director of community and economic development, told council that the city reviews any land development submission filed before the ordinance passed under current zoning. Besides the Industrial Drive project, which she called publicized, she told council that \u201canother proposal\u201d in the city\u2019s industrial zone had come in and has just begun internal review.<\/p>\n
The Industrial Drive project could not be built under the new rules. Its site at 2184 Industrial Drive is in the Planned Industrial district, where the ordinance bans data centers, and every part of it is within 1,000 feet of residentially zoned land, we reported Oct. 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n Collins said the city is seeking voluntary compliance from both developers with the studies the new rules require. She said the second project still goes to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and the Bethlehem Planning Commission.<\/p>\n We asked the city Tuesday for the second project\u2019s location, developer, size and power demand, which it has not made public, and filed a Right-to-Know request for both projects\u2019 applications.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tRest of story locked250 more words \u00b7 1 min \t\tStory continues \u00b7 1 min left<\/p>\n Read the rest of this story \u2014 freeWelcome back.That email didn\u2019t go through.<\/p>\n Reader emails keep local news free, with no paywall. You\u2019ll get our newsletter with the Valley\u2019s top stories Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, and that\u2019s all we use it for. Do it once and every story stays open.You left the newsletter, so stories past here need your email again. Rejoin and every story opens.We couldn\u2019t deliver to the address you gave. Use another one and every story opens.<\/p>\n Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy<\/a><\/p>\n Mayor J. William Reynolds told council before the vote that he had worried developers might rush proposals in under the old zoning code before the new rules passed. He said another proposal coming forward was not good news in itself, but two, one smaller than the other, is better than what is happening in other communities, and that the cutoff was 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n Council members Colleen Laird, Justin Amann, Bryan Callahan, Michael Col\u00f3n, Hillary Kwiatek and Council President Rachel Leon voted for the ordinance. Leon and Amann sponsored it.<\/p>\n Council member Jo Daniels voted no. She had voted for the rules when they passed on Oct.\u00a06 with a 7-0\u00a0vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n At that meeting, Daniels said the ordinance\u2019s standards didn\u2019t address the crucial areas the community needs to protect. \u201cAnd for that alone, I definitely can\u2019t vote to move this forward,\u201d she said about two hours before the first vote.<\/p>\n
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