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Ordinance response

Fairview Township Zoning Amendment (York)

Fairview Township, York County

At the request of Fairview Crossroads, LLC, Fairview Township adopted Ordinance No. 2025-03 in July 2025, allowing data centers by conditional use in its Commercial Business and Industrial Business districts on lots of 50 acres or more; no data center plan has been filed.

Ordinance responseLargeN/AS Central
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusOrdinance Response
Building area750,000 sq ft
Site84 acres
Capex$ 0.5 B
First announced2025-04-28

Fairview Township, York County opened two districts to data centers after a developer asked

The number that mattersA data center in Fairview needs a lot of at least 50 acres, public water and sewer, and a 150-foot setback from any home or residential zoning.
Developer
Fairview Crossroads, LLC, owned by Kevin Brown, who also presented for Elysian Partners, LLC, requested the text amendment with Attorney Craig Sharnetzka of CGA Law Firm. Brown showed a concept plan for an 84-acre tract on Lewisberry Road at I-83 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Data Center Dynamics, citing PennLive, reported that he valued the planned 750,000-square-foot data center at $500 million and said it would bring the township more than $6 million a year in taxes. No land development plan has been submitted.
Tenant
There's no named tenant and no submitted project. The concept plan shown in July 2025 didn't identify an end user.
Current stage
Ordinance No. 2025-03 was adopted July 28, 2025 and took effect five days later under its own terms. The township is rewriting its whole zoning ordinance, the draft posted in August 2026 keeps the data center rules, and the steering committee has recommended a 300-foot setback in the RL district. No data center application has been filed, and supervisors' records through the October 26, 2026 agenda show no data center business.
Decision body
Fairview Township Board of Supervisors (Chairman Dr. Lawrence Cox, Vice Chairman Christopher L. Allen, Matthew Cox, Christopher D. Weidenhammer and Samuel J. Barbera as of August 2026), which decides conditional uses, with review by the Fairview Township Planning Commission (Chairman H. Adam Williams) and the York County Planning Commission.
Top issues
Where data centers may go, how close they can be to homes, noise from rooftop and ground equipment, lighting, water and sewer capacity, and how the township's noise rules apply.
Key opponents
No organized opposition group has been reported. A resident told the supervisors in August 2025 that he was worried about a possible data center, and at the July 2025 meetings another resident backed conditional use review while opposing the Lewisberry Road location. Planning Commission Chairman H. Adam Williams cast the only vote against recommending the amendment.
Key supporters
Fairview Crossroads, LLC and Elysian Partners, which pitched the tax benefits to the supervisors in April 2025. The four supervisors present on July 28, 2025 all voted to adopt the ordinance, and five of six planning commission members voted to recommend it.

How we got here

April 28, 2025: supervisors forwarded the Fairview Crossroads, LLC text amendment to the planning commissions after Elysian's Kevin Brown explained data centers and their tax effects. June 3, 2025: the planning commission learned the York County Planning Commission would review it June 17. June 30, 2025: supervisors scheduled a July 28 public hearing. July 1, 2025: the planning commission recommended the amendment 5-1 with nine recommendations after seeing an 84-acre concept plan on Lewisberry Road. July 28, 2025: supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2025-03. August 25, 2025: the solicitor said no data center project was proposed, and supervisors adopted a rewritten noise ordinance (No. 2025-04). August 19, 2026: the zoning rewrite steering committee revisited data center setbacks and noise.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Noise and vibration

Medium

Ordinance No. 2025-03 requires pre and post construction sound studies of all rooftop and ground equipment, full screening of noisy rooftop equipment, and keeps ground equipment such as cooling towers and generators off any side of the building facing a residential property line.

Fairview Township

Visual and light

Medium

Data centers are capped at 55 feet in the Commercial Business district and 65 feet in the Industrial Business district, must sit 150 feet from residential property, need a buffer of two rows of 6-foot trees plus a berm or sound barrier, and can't put more than 0.1 footcandle of light on the property line.

Fairview Township

Water

Medium

Public water and sewer must be available and sufficient for the data center's intended use, and the applicant must show the utility has approved its application for service.

Fairview Township

Noise and vibration

Low

Ordinance No. 2025-04, adopted a month after the data center rules, replaced Fairview's decibel-based noise ordinance with a standard based on noise that is plainly audible on another property, because the township didn't keep calibrated sound meters to enforce the old limits.

Fairview Township

Public safety

Low

The August 2026 zoning rewrite draft requires a commercial-grade, anti-climb security fence at least six feet tall, set at least 30 feet from residential property lines, and emergency backup power and cooling that meet local fire and building codes.

Fairview Township
Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2025-04-28Supervisors forwarded the Fairview Crossroads, LLC zoning text amendment for data centers to the township and county planning commissions after Elysian Partners' Kevin Brown described data centers and their tax effects. Fairview Township
  • 2025-06-03Staff told the planning commission the amendment, which would permit data centers in industrial districts, was under York County Planning Commission review for its June 17 meeting. Fairview Township
  • 2025-06-30Supervisors authorized advertising a July 28, 2025 public hearing on Ordinance 2025-03. Fairview Township
  • 2025-07-01After Kevin Brown showed an 84-acre concept plan on Lewisberry Road, the planning commission voted 5-1 to recommend the amendment with conditions, including conditional use review, a 50-acre minimum lot and a 150-foot setback from homes. Fairview Township
  • 2025-07-28Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2025-03, allowing data centers by conditional use in the Commercial Business and Industrial Business districts. Fairview Township
  • 2025-07-29The committee starting the township's zoning rewrite noted the data center amendment had been approved by the supervisors. Fairview Township / HRG
  • 2025-07-30Data Center Dynamics, citing PennLive, reports Kevin Brown's figures for the concept: about 750,000 square feet, $500 million and more than $6 million a year in township taxes. Data Center Dynamics
  • 2025-08-20ABC27 reported that Fairview Township had passed a zoning change to allow data centers and that no plans had been submitted. ABC27 (WHTM)
  • 2025-08-25The township solicitor said no data center project was proposed, and supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2025-04 rewriting the township noise ordinance. Fairview Township
  • 2025-11-19The York Daily Record names Fairview among York County townships where data centers have been proposed. Keystone Newsroom / York Daily Record
  • 2025-12-30The York Daily Record's 2026 preview says a 750,000-square-foot data center could come to Fairview after the zoning change. York Daily Record (via Yahoo News)
  • 2026-08-19The committee reviewed the data center rules, agreed the setback should be 300 feet in the RL district, and discussed whether the noise limit was set right. Fairview Township / HRG
  • 2026-08-28The township posts its zoning rewrite draft, which keeps data centers as a conditional use on lots of 50 acres or more and adds security fence standards. Fairview Township
  • 2026-08-31The supervisors' meeting includes no data center business, and no plan has been filed. Fairview Township
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

Know your rights

In 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 →

Take action

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 →