SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa — Lehigh Valley Planning Commission has accepted plans for a new hyperscale data center set to be constructed across the street from Parkland High School.
And even without many details, commission members said the project is substantially more complete than another hyperscale data center the LVPC looked at during the same meeting Tuesday.
The Atlas Industrial data center would encompass 5.1 million square feet at a now a largely undeveloped plot across the street from the high school.Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Managing Editor Matt Assad
LVPC Managing Editor Matt Assad confirmed Wednesday that the Atlas Industrial data center would include six buildings and an electric substation.
It would encompass 5.1 million square feet at 2493 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. in South Whitehall Township, now a largely undeveloped plot across the street from the high school.
LVPC Chief Community and Regional Planner Jill Seitz said Tuesday and Assad confirmed Wednesday that LVPC has only just accepted the plans for the data center.
It had not yet conducted a thorough review.
A review will be held at the LVPC’s January 2026 meeting.
Resistance is anticipated
Even without diving into the details of the Atlas Industrial plan, LVPC officials were blunt about the project in comparison to the Cetronia Road data center project, which would include three buildings over 2.6 million square feet in Upper Macungie Township.
After presenting the informational line item during Tuesday's meeting, Seitz described the Atlas Industrial plan as “a much more complete submission compared to the ones that we just reviewed for the Cetronia Road data center.”
And yet, Assad said he anticipates some clapback from the community on the Atlas Industrial project, because of its proximity to the high school.
“It’s right across the street from Parkland High School, so there will be probably be pitchforks at the next meeting,” he said.
Atlas Industrial and Cetronia Road are the first two hyperscale data center proposals in the Lehigh Valley.
While small, medium and large facilities have been pitched across the area, hyperscale facilities — which are defined as co-location facilities encompassing millions of square feet — still are a novelty.
Regulating zoning can be tricky
Concerns over the environmental impacts of such mega data centers already are prevalent.
The LVPC and numerous municipalities witnessing community opposition because of environmental impacts, infrastructure impact, and other issues.
In an overview of the concept of data centers at the LVPC meeting on Tuesday, officials said such proposals require diligent review of infrastructure capacity.
That includes electrical availability, water and sewer demands; environmental and community impacts such as noise management, air quality monitoring; and design and site layout — the building sizes, scale and aesthetics, along with landscaping and other matters.
The LVPC made it clear that municipalities must provide for all land uses, and can't reject a data center just because it is not wanted in a community.
Regulating zoning for the facilities also is a bit tricky, as it requires a valid public purpose to institute such changes.
However, communities can plan for and regulate land use and development via comprehensive plans, zoning ordinances and other methodology, as long as they meet legal requirements.
'Primary land use interest in Lehigh County'
As such, the LVPC has been developing a Lehigh County Industrial Land Use Guide to assist municipalities with methods to help control the development of facilities such as data centers.
"What everybody is talking about now is the hyperscale data center that can exceed a million square feet, because data centers run 24/7, and generate significant heat.”LVPC Chief Community and Regional Planner Jill Seitz
“The primary land use of interest in Lehigh County right now is data centers, particularly large scale, or what's known as hyperscale data centers," Seitz said in a November LVPC meeting.
"These centers are facilities that store, process and move digital information anytime we stream video, store files in the cloud, have virtual online meetings, make online purchases.
“The devices that we're using don't do most of the work. Those requests are sent to servers inside data centers.
"These facilities operate 24 hours a day, and must maintain uninterrupted power and cooling to keep the equipment functioning.”
Seitz said the region already has some smaller data facilities serving local business needs, typically about 20,000 square feet.
“But what everybody is talking about now is the hyperscale data center that can exceed a million square feet, because data centers run 24/7, and generate significant heat,” Seitz said.
