West Manchester Township, York County
West Manchester Township supervisors created a Data Center Overlay Zone for the Briarwood Golf Club in October 2025 at the request of Viridian Partners. No building plans have been filed yet, and the township is now working on tougher noise rules for the overlay.
On July 24, 2025 the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to send Viridian Partners' proposed Data Center Overlay Zone to the township and York County planning commissions. On August 12, 2025 the township Planning Commission tabled it after hearing that a York County advisory committee opposed the overlay approach and members suggested a rezoning instead. On September 9, 2025 the commission voted 3 to 2 to recommend approval, subject to the township engineer's comments, and on October 14 staff reported the developer had increased setbacks, removed offices as a use and added language on a required sound study. Supervisors held a public hearing on October 23, 2025 and adopted Ordinance 25-06 unanimously that night. In December 2025 the township engineer updated the zoning map for the new overlay. On October 13, 2026 the Planning Commission recommended amending the overlay to set objective noise standards.
In September 2025 a Planning Commission member said the draft overlay had no specific sound requirements and offered little protection to neighbors, and the township engineer said staff had suggested broad noise rules because the township has no one on staff to do sound studies.
West Manchester TownshipThe overlay would replace a family-owned golf course. Chairman Harlacher told GOLF.com that Viridian's original plan used about half the land and that the township had asked whether nine holes could be kept.
GOLF.comResidents of nearby streets asked at the October 23, 2025 hearing how buildings in front of their homes would affect home values, after one said he'd seen a sketch of where the buildings might go.
West Manchester TownshipSupervisors and residents questioned water use, where used water would go, drought and emergency cooling at the October 23, 2025 hearing, and the developer's answers weren't recorded in the minutes.
West Manchester TownshipChairman Harlacher told GOLF.com the project could bring about $6 million a year in real estate taxes, roughly $4.5 million of it to the school district. No job estimate has been published.
GOLF.comIn Pennsylvania, the local zoning ordinance sets the route. A conditional use is decided by the elected governing body (supervisors, commissioners or council). A special exception or variance, and an appeal of a zoning officer’s decision, go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Each is a public hearing on a record: affected neighbors can ask for party status, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal. Municipalities can also adopt data center ordinances with enforceable standards.
Know your rights →Organized community opposition is the single most effective check on these projects in Pennsylvania. Show up to hearings, submit comment when it is taken, support legal and expert-witness costs, and press your municipality for a real ordinance. Pennsylvania municipalities cannot simply freeze applications, but a curative amendment under the Planning Code gives them a defined window to fix a defective ordinance.
How communities push back →