Manor Township, Lancaster County
Manor Township, Lancaster County, adopted data center zoning rules in November 2025 and tightened them in March 2026, though no data center has been proposed there.
During the June 2, 2025 hearing on High Real Estate Group's Kready Farm rezoning, residents raised data center concerns and Township Manager Ryan Strohecker said the township would refine its data center language within months. Staff presented a draft ordinance on August 4, 2025, built from Pennsylvania and Virginia ordinances with Londonderry Township's as the template. Supervisors sent it to the township and county planning commissions on September 2, 2025, and the township planning commission recommended approval on September 8, 2025. Supervisors adopted it unanimously as part of Ordinance 2-2025 on November 6, 2025, with 250-foot setbacks, a 40-foot height limit and noise and water standards. LNP reports the rules allow data centers on parcels of 30 acres or more in the industrial district with zoning hearing board approval, with noise limits of 65 dB(A) at night and 70 dB(A) by day. After Lancaster County Planning Commission comments arrived, an update was sent for review on January 5, 2026, recommended by the planning commission on January 12, 2026, and adopted unanimously as Ordinance 1-2026 on March 2, 2026. Ephrata and Penn townships have since adopted their own rules, and several other Lancaster County municipalities were drafting them as of June 2026.
The ordinance limits data center noise at neighboring properties to 65 dB(A) at night and 70 dB(A) during the day, according to LNP. Township officials said in 2025 they especially wanted to address low-frequency sound from data centers.
LNP / LancasterOnlineTownship minutes say the rules set 250-foot setbacks and a 40-foot height limit, and LNP reports data centers are limited to parcels of 30 acres or more in the industrial district with zoning hearing board approval.
Manor TownshipIn 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.
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