Radnor Twp. Considers Data Center Restrictions: Are They Strong Enough?

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, PA — With a ban on data centers considered infeasible, Radnor Township is considering regulations on the facilities. But Monday's Township Commissioners meeting featured discussion on whether the outlined proposal is strict enough.

Data centers have been surging in Pennsylvania — as have public concerns about the noise, pollution, and impacts on the electrical grid and water supply associated with them.

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Since data centers are a legal use of land, local governments in Pennsylvania can't outright ban them. Instead, cities and towns are starting to address data centers in their zoning codes so they can regulate any future applications from developers.

Radnor Township is in the process of joining that wave.

On Monday, Radnor's Board of Commissioners voted to introduce a 21-page ordinance that regulates data centers. Officials noted that there are no current applications or informal discussions about proposed data centers in Radnor.

If passed, data centers would be limited to the township's two Planned Laboratory-Office (PLO) Districts, which are designed to accomodate offices and laboratories.

One of them is located along Matsonford Road, while the other sits along the King of Russia Road corridor — adjacent to Radnor High School property. The latter area includes a Penn Medicine medical office.

Here's the township's zoning map for reference.

Data centers would also need to be at least 200 feet from any "structure" (home or building) that's in a residential district, public land use district (PLU), conservation district (AC) or institutional service (PI) district, which includes colleges.

One resident spoke during public comment on the matter, expressing confusing that the facilities would need to be 200 feet away from those structures, rather than their property lines.

And while the ordinance regulates noise levels, Commissioner Catherine Agnew (Ward 3) claimed that the 200-foot buffer wouldn't be enough to keep the noise levels down in nearby areas.

"In the live news that I've seen, they are so loud that 200 feet is not going to do it," Agnew said.

The proposed ordinance also establishes a multi-step process for approving a data center, creates regulatory standards for their noise and resource use, and limits data center technology to cover only 5 percent of the floor area in each approved facility, among other restrictions.

Despite the concerns, the commissioners voted to introduce the ordinance, since it can be revised before it's adopted.

The Planning Commission will review the ordinance before it's sent back to the township commissioners for a public hearing on whether to adopt the policy.