All Pennsylvania projects
Ordinance response

North Middleton Township Data Center Ordinance (Ordinance 2025-06)

North Middleton Township, Cumberland County

A zoning ordinance adopted in October 2025 by North Middleton Township, Cumberland County, that allows data centers only as conditional uses in its commercial/light industrial and industrial zones and sets extra standards for water, noise and setbacks.

Ordinance responseN/AS Central
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusOrdinance Response
First announced2025-07-15

North Middleton Township wrote data center rules before any developer showed up

The number that mattersNorth Middleton's Planning Commission kept its larger data center setbacks even after Cumberland County planners suggested reducing them.
Developer
No developer has applied. The township's Planning Commission and its subcommittee drafted the ordinance with Solicitor Zachary Rice, after comments from the Cumberland County Planning Commission. Township Manager John Epley said the township acted because its zoning had nothing that addressed data centers.
Tenant
There is no project or tenant. Township officials said in October 2025 that no land development plans for a data center had been submitted.
Current stage
Ordinance 2025-06 was adopted October 16, 2025 and is in effect. Any data center would need conditional use approval from the Board of Supervisors, which can attach added conditions.
Decision body
North Middleton Township Board of Supervisors, which adopted the ordinance and would decide any conditional use application.
Top issues
Water supply in a township that buys water from neighbors (six of the draft's 14 pages dealt with water feasibility, according to the township manager), the temperature of water returned to streams and the aquifer, noise, vibration and traffic studies, setbacks from homes, enforcement and decommissioning if a data center closes, and the fact that state law requires townships to allow every lawful use somewhere.
Key opponents
No organized opposition group has been reported. At the October 16, 2025 hearing several residents said the rules weren't strict enough, asked the board to table the ordinance, and raised water supply, wildlife and enforcement concerns. In March 2026 a resident asked the board to hold public meetings on data centers.
Key supporters
The Board of Supervisors adopted the ordinance unanimously on a motion by Supervisor Bradley Mitchell, seconded by Supervisor Rick Hoover. The Planning Commission recommended it with one member opposed.

How we got here

The Planning Commission put a data center ordinance on its agenda July 15, 2025 and reviewed a draft with residents August 19, 2025. On September 16 it recommended the draft with added language on water temperature, noise and electromagnetic interference, and on September 18 the supervisors voted to advertise it. After county comments, the Planning Commission recommended it again on October 14, 2025, and the supervisors held a public hearing and adopted Ordinance 2025-06 unanimously on October 16, 2025.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Water

Medium

The ordinance adds language requiring that water returned to the aquifer be monitored and returned at an appropriate temperature, a change the Planning Commission chairman requested after residents raised wildlife concerns.

North Middleton Township

Noise and vibration

Medium

The draft adds data center noise standards that are stricter than the township's existing industrial noise limits, with height and screening following the rules of the underlying zoning district, according to Planning Commission minutes.

North Middleton Township

Water

Medium

Six of the 14 pages in the township's draft data center rules dealt with water feasibility, Township Manager John Epley told The Sentinel, and the draft was to be sent to county planners and possibly the LeTort Regional Authority for review.

The Sentinel (via GovTech)

Traffic

Low

The draft required traffic, vibration and sound studies, along with setbacks and screening, before a data center could be approved, according to the township manager.

The Sentinel (via GovTech)
Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2025-07-15Planning Commission takes up a data center ordinance for the first time. North Middleton Township
  • 2025-08-19Planning Commission reviews a draft allowing data centers as a conditional use in the commercial/light industrial and industrial zones and hears resident comments. North Middleton Township
  • 2025-09-03Township Manager John Epley tells The Sentinel the 14-page draft devotes six pages to water feasibility and will go to county planners before the September 16 Planning Commission meeting. The Sentinel (via GovTech)
  • 2025-09-16Planning Commission recommends the draft with added water temperature, noise and electromagnetic interference language. North Middleton Township
  • 2025-09-18Supervisors vote unanimously to advertise the data center amendments for action in October. North Middleton Township
  • 2025-10-14After county comments, the Planning Commission recommends the ordinance again, with one member opposed, and keeps its larger setbacks. North Middleton Township
  • 2025-10-16Supervisors hold a public hearing and unanimously adopt Ordinance 2025-06 covering data centers and battery energy storage systems. North Middleton Township
  • 2026-03-19A resident asks the supervisors to hold public meetings about data centers. North Middleton Township
  • 2026-10-20The Planning Commission's October 2026 agenda has no data center items. North Middleton 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 →