Tamaqua Borough, Schuylkill County
No company has proposed a data center in Tamaqua Borough, Schuylkill County, but on October 6, 2026 the borough and Rush, Walker and Schuylkill townships each adopted a shared Eastern Schuylkill Regional Planning ordinance that allows data centers only by conditional use in two newly zoned industrial areas along Route 209.
In August 2025 the Senate Majority Policy Committee, chaired by Sen. Dave Argall of Schuylkill County, held a statewide data center hearing in Archbald; its posted agenda and testimony don't mention Tamaqua. On April 21, 2026 Tamaqua Borough Council declared the regional zoning ordinance deficient for not covering data centers, warehouses and short-term rentals and adopted Resolution 2026-4 to start a curative amendment, and Rush Township's supervisors took the same step on April 16. In June a resident shared sample ordinances and urged council to add conditional use rules. In July the borough solicitor reported that after four months of meetings the regional group had finished the revised ordinance and sent it to the planning commissions, with an October 11 deadline. In August council's president said Tamaqua's one possible data center area isn't big enough, and Schuylkill Township announced the October 6 hearing. On October 6, 2026, after a 90-minute hearing at Tamaqua Borough Hall, all four member municipalities approved the data center ordinance, rezoning two areas along Route 209 as Industrial. On October 20 council's agenda included a final payment to the regional group for the zoning amendment work.
The regional ordinance requires an independent sound study showing a data center, including generator testing, stays at or below 75 dB(A) on weekday daytimes and 57 dB(A) at night and on weekends at the property line, with an as-built study six months after occupancy.
Rush TownshipApplicants must submit a water needs analysis, proof that a public supplier has capacity, the location of wells and streams within 1,000 feet, and a licensed hydrogeologist's study of effects on nearby wells, streams and groundwater.
Rush TownshipThe adopted ordinance requires any data center to use a recirculating water system and comply with runoff rules, according to the Times News account of the October 6, 2026 hearing, where residents raised water use and runoff.
Times NewsData centers need at least 30 acres, are capped at 50 feet tall with 100-foot front, side and rear yards, and any part of the use, parking or loading visible from beyond the lot must be screened by a 50-foot planted buffer yard.
Rush 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.
How communities push back →