ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The debate over data centers in the city is set to rage on after City Council voted Wednesday night to take two weeks to figure out their legal options.
Data centers dominated discussion for more than three hours as council held a public hearing on proposed regulations before voting hours later to table them.
Without adopting data center regulations soon, the city could leave itself open to more proposals like the one at 2401 W. Emaus Ave.Allentown Planning and Zoning Director Jennifer Gomez
The regulations are meant “to protect the city” by establishing stricter standards and requiring an extra layer of public review for data center projects within city limits, Planning and Zoning Director Jennifer Gomez told council and a crowd of residents that spilled into the hallway outside the room.
Bill 20 is “the starting point” for regulating data centers, Gomez said. She urged council to pass the legislation, then work to refine and strengthen its provisions.
Without adopting data center regulations soon, the city could leave itself open to more proposals like the one at 2401 W. Emaus Ave., Gomez said.
That proposal is being reviewed under the city’s current zoning code, which does not define data centers or regulate their use, because the application was submitted before council officially advertised its intent to consider regulatory changes.
'One of the worst I've seen'
Thirty people spoke Wednesday night. Most implored council to table or reject Bill 20 and use a legal tool known as a municipal curative amendment to pause new proposals for six months.
Allentown officials could declare the city’s zoning code to be invalid because it doesn't address data centers and use the amendment to pass a “really good ordinance,” Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, a senior organizer for Food & Water Watch, told council.
Allentown’s data center ordinance “is, unfortunately, one of the worst ones I’ve seen. People have grave concerns.”Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, a senior organizer for Food & Water Watch
Passing a municipal curative amendment would give officials a 180-day window to develop and enact legislation that regulates data centers to address the code’s deficiencies.
But differing opinions from council’s and the city’s solicitors compelled the board to table Bill 20 until its June 17 meeting.
During that time, Montero is tasked with completing a legal service review to determine council’s options with Bill 20 and/or a municipal curative amendment.
Marcille-Kerslake said she “lived and breathed” the data center debate and helped strengthen numerous regulatory ordinances over the past year in Pennsylvania.
Allentown’s data center ordinance “is, unfortunately, one of the worst ones I’ve seen,” she said. “People have grave concerns.”
Water, electricity, noise concerns
Among those concerns are the proposed ordinance’s requirement for data centers to sit at least 200 feet from homes and other “sensitive” properties, such as childcare facilities, Marcille-Kerslake said.
Many speakers voiced fears about higher costs of living because of data centers’ water and electricity consumption.
“We all want an ordinance" to regulate data centers. "But this just isn’t strong enough.”Allentown resident Alicia Ruthroth
Hyperscale data centers — those that cover more than 50,000 square feet — can use as much electricity as tens of thousands of homes, according to industry statistics.
Others raised concerns about sustained vibrations and noise generated by data centers’ cooling systems and backup generators, which can be heard hundreds of feet away, studies show.
Bill 20 would require developers to perform noise studies and plant trees and other landscape features to buffer that noise.
Living with the noise from a data center would be similar to living next to a highway during rush hours, resident Alicia Ruthroth said.
“A data center is 24/7. It is that level of noise all the time; it never stops,” Ruthroth said.
“We all want an ordinance" to regulate data centers, she said. “But this just isn’t strong enough.”
Resident Adam Bond urged city officials to find a way to evaluate the “cumulative effect” of data center proposals rather than reviewing each proposal individually.
'A brick on our head'
The public hearing was meant to elicit feedback from residents about Bill 20, its provisions and its shortfalls. But many speakers highlighted their concerns with a looming proposal in South Allentown.
Allentown City Planning Commission on Tuesday is scheduled to review plans for a quarter-million-square-foot data center.
William Gorecki criticized officials for the timing of the two meetings related to data centers. They should take more time to figure out the regulations before reviewing any proposal, he said.
“It kind of feels like [Bill 20] is: ‘Let’s see how we regulate people who want to put a brick on our head,’” Gorecki said. “And then [on] Tuesday, we’re talking about if we should put a brick on our head.”
A short description of the project indicates Zach Jordan, a project engineer at Langan Engineering, is seeking permission to convert a recently built 224,000-square-foot warehouse at 2401 W. Emaus Ave. into a data center.
But the city’s proposed regulations won’t apply to that project.
And officials could find themselves with little authority to reject the data center proposal if it meets the city’s current requirements.
