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Contested

Limerick "Project Laurel" / MCD 7 LLC

Limerick Township, Montgomery County

Project Laurel would put eight 85-foot data buildings on 192 acres across from the Philadelphia Premium Outlets, drawing roughly 750 megawatts and at least 750,000 gallons of water a day, for an end user nobody has been allowed to name.

ContestedGrid HyperscaleGreenfieldSE
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusUnder Review
Capacity750 MW
Building area2,800,000 sq ft
Site192 acres
First announced2025
Target onlineTBD

A 750 megawatt campus on swapped game lands, behind a nondisclosure agreement

The number that mattersThe applicant's fiscal witness projected about $3.39 million a year for the township, built on a $1,200 per square foot value supplied by the applicant's own counsel and an assumption of 451 employees, while a water utility letter in the applicant's exhibits put staffing at 300.
Developer
MCD 7 LLC (rendered MDC 7 LLC in some records), represented by attorney Ed Campbell, with Limerick Town Center LLC holding adjacent land
Tenant
Undisclosed and shielded by nondisclosure agreements. State Rep. Joe Ciresi has pursued legislation targeting the practice.
Current stage
Conditional use hearings before the Board of Supervisors continue Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. at the Township Building, after a seventh session on October 1, with more sessions set for November 24, December 8 and December 22. No vote has been taken. The township's newer data center standards, adopted July 7 and being amended again, do not reach this application, whose two supplemental applications were filed hours before the July 7 vote.
Decision body
Limerick Township Board of Supervisors (conditional use), with land development review to follow any approval
Top issues
750 MW of PECO capacity; at least 750,000 gallons of water a day in a township with private wells; 30 to 45 chillers and a similar number of generators per building; 85-foot building height; the Game Lands 234 swap; nondisclosure agreements hiding the end user; an ordinance that addresses noise but not vibration, air or water pollution; vacating and relocating parts of Sanatoga Road, Possum Hollow Road and a gas transmission line
Key opponents
Prevent Limerick Data Center Development and a bipartisan coalition of residents; State Rep. Joe Ciresi; State Sen. Katie Muth; neighbors of State Game Lands 234
Key supporters
Developer tax projections of roughly $40 million a year across the township, Montgomery County and the Spring-Ford Area School District

How we got here

Supervisors voted 3-0 on March 5, 2026 to rewrite the data center ordinance. The Planning Commission held a hearing running more than three hours in April, moved to a high school auditorium for crowd size, and recommended denial unless 18 conditions are met. Residents were denied entry to a capacity hearing in May. The Game Commission approved the land swap in June. Conditional use hearings continue monthly through August 2026.

Update, October 13, 2026. Correction: the stricter ordinance (Amend. Ord. No. 438) was adopted July 7, 2026, hours after MCD 7 filed its Phase 1 and Phase 2 applications (CU 26-05 and CU 26-06); the original application is CU 25-04. Sessions followed on August 18, September 8 and October 1, covering landscaping, the fiscal analysis and traffic, and the hearing continues October 27. Limerick Town Center LLC's separate Publicker site application (CU 26-03) is tracked as its own project.

Update, October 22, 2026. At the close of the October 1 session the board added hearing dates of November 24, December 8 and December 22, according to the draft minutes. At the October 6 meeting the solicitor told residents that data centers are a lawful use in Pennsylvania, so the board can't simply say no.

Update, October 22, 2026. PJM planning records show PECO presented a transmission need (PE-2025-007) on November 4, 2025 for a new customer in the Limerick area asking for 100 megawatts in 2029 and 750 megawatts in 2032, and listed that need as withdrawn at PJM's August 4, 2026 planning committee meeting. The slides don't name the customer or give a reason.

Update, October 26, 2026. On September 22, 2026 the Board of Supervisors, which is hearing the MCD 7 application, voted 3-0 to appoint William DeGideo to the seat Linda Irwin left when she resigned on September 1. His term runs through December 31, 2027.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Water

High

At least 750,000 gallons/day; planning commission pushing closed-loop cooling as a condition to force disclosure of cooling architecture.

PoweredByWho

Energy costs and the grid

High

PECO has reportedly committed roughly 750 megawatts to the campus, the power needed to run about half a million households, in the same PJM zone where capacity costs are already passing through to residential bills.

Data Center Dynamics

Water

High

The campus would consume at least 750,000 gallons of water per day, more than fills an Olympic swimming pool, in a township where many households are on private wells.

PoweredByWho

Noise and vibration

High

Industry reporting describes 30 to 45 rooftop chillers and a similar number of backup generators per data building across eight buildings. Limerick’s existing data center rules address noise but not vibration, which is why supervisors ordered the ordinance rewritten.

Hoodline / Pottstown Mercury

Air quality

High

Backup generation at this scale, roughly 30 to 45 units per building across eight buildings, drove supervisors to seek air pollution protections that the existing ordinance does not contain.

PoweredByWho

Visual and light

High

Eight two-story buildings standing 85 feet tall on 192 acres directly across from the Philadelphia Premium Outlets would reshape the skyline of a suburban township.

Data Center Dynamics

Environmental justice and site legacy

High

The Pennsylvania Game Commission deeded 55 acres of State Game Lands 234 and a 200-foot right of way to a developer entity in a swap residents say nobody voted on, converting public hunting land adjacent to the project site.

Patch

Air quality

High

For the Phase 2 application (CU 26-06), the township's summary lists the applicant's estimates of about 36 generators and 42 rooftop chillers for each building of roughly 300,000 sq ft, and about 42 generators and 64 chillers for each building of roughly 400,000 sq ft. Phase 2 covers four buildings of the first size and three of the second, and the separate Phase 1 building adds an on-grade field of about 36 generators.

Limerick Township

Public safety

Medium

Residents were denied entry to a conditional use hearing that had reached capacity, raising questions about meaningful public participation in a quasi-judicial proceeding.

WFMZ

Property values

Medium

Residents living within about two miles describe the pace as very fast and question well water, electric bills and long-term livability.

WFMZ

Traffic

Medium

The township's summary of MCD 7's original application (CU 25-04) says the project proposes to vacate and relocate portions of Sanatoga Road and Possum Hollow Road and to relocate a gas transmission line that crosses the site.

Limerick Township

Energy costs and the grid

Medium

The Phase 2 plans include an electrical substation with two power transformers, a control house and switchgear, plus a large utility switching station on the southern part of the site near the existing 500 kV transmission line, according to the township's summary.

Limerick Township

Jobs and tax claims

Low

Records reviewed by planners reference a community-benefit protection intended to preserve roughly $40 million a year in tax revenue for the township, Montgomery County and the Spring-Ford Area School District; permanent staffing for hyperscale campuses is typically small relative to footprint.

Hoodline / Pottstown Mercury
Community response

Who is organizing against it

Prevent Limerick Data Center Development

Township · Founded 2026

Leaders: Meagan Smolsky and resident organizers; supported by State Rep. Joe Ciresi and State Sen. Katie Muth

Tactics: Monthly turnout at conditional use hearings, coordinated protests in red outside the township administration building, public comment on water, noise and vibration, pressure for a rewritten data center ordinance

A bipartisan coalition of residents that has packed hearings to overflow, forcing meetings into a high school auditorium and, in May 2026, being denied entry when a hearing reached capacity. Works alongside State Rep. Joe Ciresi, who has pursued legislation targeting the nondisclosure agreements shielding projects like this one, and State Sen. Katie Muth.

Facebook

Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2025-11-04PECO tells PJM's planning committee that a new customer in the Limerick area has asked for 100 megawatts in 2029 rising to 750 megawatts in 2032, more than local infrastructure can handle (need PE-2025-007); the slides don't name the customer. PJM Interconnection
  • 2026-03-05Supervisors direct solicitor 3-0 to draft tighter data-center ordinance (water/air/vibration) PoweredByWho
  • 2026-03-05Supervisors vote 3-0 to direct the township solicitor to draft amendments to the data center zoning ordinance, whose existing rules address only noise, to add protections for water pollution, air pollution and vibration monitoring PoweredByWho
  • 2026-04-01Planning Commission holds a public hearing running more than three hours on the Project Laurel conditional use application; hundreds of residents attend, forcing the meeting into a local high school auditorium PoweredByWho
  • 2026-04-12Planners recommend the project be denied unless 18 conditions are met, covering noise, water and power safeguards, a template other Pennsylvania townships can reach for: approval made contingent on terms a developer may not accept Hoodline / Pottstown Mercury
  • 2026-04-24A group fundraiser is canceled by MaGerk’s Pub after complaints from data center supporters raise security concerns, and threats prompt hearings to move to a smaller venue; the group says it has no connection to the threats Patch
  • 2026-04-24All data center conditional use hearings and Board of Supervisors public meetings moved to the Limerick Township Municipal Building, with increased security measures Limerick Township
  • 2026-05-12Residents are denied entry to a conditional use hearing at capacity and protest outside the township administration building; the township schedules data center hearings monthly through August WFMZ
  • 2026-06-01Game Commission approves a land swap deeding 55 acres of State Game Lands 234 plus a 200-foot right of way to Limerick Town Center LLC, adjacent to the former Publicker distillery site the developer already owns; the Commission receives 176 acres in Edgemont Township, Delaware County and 377.2 acres in Bern Township, Berks County Patch
  • 2026-06-18Data Center Dynamics reports the campus at 1.4 million sq ft of building footprint on 192 acres with 750 MW secured from PECO and a full build-out of up to five years Data Center Dynamics
  • 2026-07-07Supervisors adopt stricter data center rules (Amendment Ordinance No. 438); MCD 7's two supplemental applications were filed hours before the vote The Mercury / Daily Local News
  • 2026-07-21Residents organize a protest in red before the latest conditional use hearing, part of a bipartisan coalition opposing the campus Patch
  • 2026-07-21Fourth conditional use session runs four hours. Attorney Ed Campbell discloses that MCD7 has filed two additional conditional use applications on the same property, submitted just before the township imposed stricter data center regulations. Campbell says multiple potential end users are evaluating the site and the applicant expects to partner with one after securing approval, but is not at liberty to name them. Supervisor Patrick Morroney asks for the identities so officials can check whether the companies have been good neighbors elsewhere. Continued to August 18 at 6:30 p.m. Spring-Ford Press
  • 2026-07-21Fourth conditional-use session runs four hours, operators undisclosed, hearing continued to August 18 Spring-Ford Press
  • 2026-08-04PECO's slides for PJM's planning committee list the Limerick 750 megawatt customer need (PE-2025-007) as withdrawn, without naming the customer or giving a reason. PJM Interconnection
  • 2026-08-18Fifth session: the board declines to qualify the applicant's landscape architect as an expert because her license has been inactive since the early 1990s; testimony covers clearing about 38 acres of woodland. Continued to Sept 8 Spring-Ford Press
  • 2026-09-01Supervisor Linda Irwin announces her resignation at the September 1 meeting, and the township manager says the board has to formally accept it and then has 30 days to appoint a replacement. Spring-Ford Press
  • 2026-09-08Sixth session: the applicant's fiscal analysis rests on a $1,200 per square foot value supplied by counsel and assumes 451 employees, while a water utility letter in the applicant's exhibits says 300; the witness acknowledges spreadsheet errors. Continued to Oct 1 Spring-Ford Press
  • 2026-09-22Supervisors vote 3-0 to appoint William DeGideo to Linda Irwin's seat for the rest of the term, which ends December 31, 2027. Township Solicitor Rebecca Geiser cited the pending conditional use applications as one reason to move ahead with the appointment. Spring-Ford Press
  • 2026-10-01Seventh session: the traffic engineer acknowledges no nuclear evacuation traffic analysis and no consultation with the Limerick plant's operator, emergency management, State Police or the NRC. Continued to Oct 27 at 6:30 p.m. Spring-Ford Press
  • 2026-10-01At the close of the seventh session, board chair Connie Lawson adds three more hearing dates for the year: November 24, December 8 and December 22, all at 6:30 p.m. Limerick Township
  • 2026-10-06Township engineer presents further amendments on vibration, glare, heat, EMF, odor and cooling-tower safety; they will not apply to the two pending data center applications The Mercury
  • 2026-10-06During discussion of further ordinance amendments, the township solicitor tells residents that data centers are a lawful use in Pennsylvania the board can't simply refuse, and that the Municipalities Planning Code doesn't let the township make a developer pay its legal fees in an appeal. Limerick Township
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2026-02
    Conditional use application Limerick Township Board of Supervisors · CU 25-04

    Conditional use application for eight data buildings totaling roughly 1.4 million sq ft of footprint on 192 acres. The Planning Commission recommended denial unless 18 conditions are met; the elected Board of Supervisors holds the quasi-judicial hearing and makes the formal decision, with a separate land development review to follow any approval.

    MCD 7 LLC (attorney Ed Campbell) · Hearings continuing; next session Oct 27, 2026
  • 2026-03-05
    Ordinance amendment Limerick Township Board of Supervisors · n/a

    Supervisors directed the solicitor to draft amendments to the data center overlay, whose existing standards address noise, woodland and water service but not water pollution, air pollution or vibration monitoring.

    Township solicitor · Adopted July 7, 2026 (Amend. Ord. No. 438); further amendments in drafting
  • 2026-06-01
    Land swap approval Pennsylvania Game Commission · n/a

    55 acres of State Game Lands 234 plus a 200-foot right of way conveyed to Limerick Town Center LLC adjacent to the project area, in exchange for 176 acres in Edgemont Township and 377.2 acres in Bern Township.

    Limerick Town Center LLC and the Commonwealth · Approved
  • 2026-07-07
    Conditional use applications (supplemental) Limerick Township Board of Supervisors · CU 26-05 / CU 26-06

    Two additional conditional use applications on the same property, filed just before Limerick imposed stricter data center regulations, contemplating alternative phasing of the campus. The primary application covers eight two-story buildings totaling just under 2.8 million square feet, three substations of just under half a million square feet, and 80,000 sq ft of support buildings on 191 acres, and proposes to vacate and relocate portions of Sanatoga Road, Possum Hollow Road and a gas transmission line.

    MCD 7 LLC / Limerick Town Center LLC (attorney Ed Campbell) · Filed; no hearing dates posted
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 →