Springhill Township postpones votes on data center, power plant ordinances
The Springhill Township Board of Supervisors tabled two resolutions that would regulate data centers and fossil fuel power plant facilities within the township Thursday to meet state requirements for posting notice.
Votes on the two ordinances will take place at the township’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Appalachian Community Center, 2390 Springhill Furnace Road, Smithfield.
With those votes pending, the board approved a resolution Thursday night prohibiting anyone from applying for a data center or power plant within the township until the next meeting.
The board also adopted a related ordinance Thursday regarding the regulation of noise and dust within the township.
Solicitor James Tomasy said the township began drafting the ordinances earlier this year after the township board was approached by independent power production company Nadara, which had entered into a right-to-purchase agreement with the Fay-Penn Economic Council for 800 acres near Gans.
The ordinances would restrict data centers and accompanying power plants as a conditional use in the township’s heavy industrial and light industrial zoning districts.
In 2022, the township adopted a zoning ordinance and map identical to the one used by Fayette County.
Under that ordinance, any use that is not specifically defined as a lawful activity — such as data centers — can be constructed through a special exception, Tomasy said.
“There are no restrictions right now with respect to Springhill Township and the regulation of data centers, so that’s why we need to adopt a data center regulation, with respect to the things we can actually regulate,” he said.
Power plants are also allowed in agricultural zones under the current ordinance, which accounts for the majority of land within Springhill Township. Fifty-two properties within the township are zoned heavy industrial and light industrial, township officials said.
As of Thursday, no proposals or permit applications have come before the township, Tomasy said.
If the board approves the ordinances later this month, data center buildings and equipment would be required to stand at least 200 feet back from the property line, and could not be within 400 feet from an occupied home. Those limits are even further back for electric power generation facilities — 500 feet and 1,500 feet, respectively.
The noise ordinance sets limits — 55 decibels at day and 45 at night — on how loud facilities can be when measured at the property line nearest an affected home.
It also covers the sub-bass frequencies that people experience as vibrations — 65 decibels for 31.5 hertz, and 60 decibels for 63 hertz.
Data center proposals must also outline how they will provide their own energy off-grid, and explain where they will source the water for cooling, among other requirements.
Thursday’s meetings drew about 40 residents opposing data center development in the community.
Several wondered whether the restrictions would be enough to stop data centers from locating in the township.
Nadara representatives had been doing environment impact studies in the area earlier this year, township officials said. Resident Jim French was worried that process might be used to circumvent local approvals.
“My concern would be that if they get to a point where they start to gain ground at the county or even at the state level with (Department of Environmental Protection), etc., that what we do here at the township just gets steam-rolled over, and you won’t have as much say as you think you might,” he said.
Township Supervisor Damon Hellen acknowledged the concerns. If a company applies for a data center, the township’s code enforcement will be “not overwhelmed, but very busy” making sure they comply with the ordinance, he said.
Hellen said having a local ordinance might give Springhill Township an advantage over other rural communities eyed by data centers, which are less likely to have their own zoning.
“We’re very fortunate that we have that control,” he said. “But there is a concern about the pressure from the state, and we’ve seen it with our local water authority, and how DEP has forced our water authority to do things that you know they probably didn’t want to do.”
Paul Kokot owns five light industrial parcels in the township. He said he’d been approached about selling property for a data center; despite a good offer, he decided he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself.
Asked after the meeting if he thought the board’s actions would halt data center development in the township, Kokot said, “I think they’re trying to do something to help.”