Milford Township supervisors are getting ahead of data centers by preemptively putting together an ordinance to restrict data center development in the township. At the August 4 regular meeting, board supervisors announced to the public that an ordinance would be forthcoming for public review and comment. A date will be advertised in the coming weeks, and a copy of the ordinance posted online for public viewing.

            The proposed ordinance is the product of several conversations between Milford Township's supervisors, staff, and comments from the public, and is aimed at covering all the pertinent bases regarding data center regulation, including power source, water, noise, location, and more.

            While Chairman Christian Haberle acknowledged that he has not heard any rumblings of a potential data center in Milford, he stated that it is better to get ahead of any possible development before it actually happens. The township is aiming to restrict any potential data center to the planned industrial zones (most of which are along Route 663) in order to protect residential areas.

            Members of the public had several questions and comments, all of which were graciously accepted by the board. People in attendance widely commended the board for working proactively on this issue to protect the residents of Milford. The township, as well as all other second-class townships in Pennsylvania, is bound by state law to provide some allocation of land for industrial developments – that includes data centers. If the township were to ban data centers outright, they could be dragged to court and the ordinance would be overturned, thus necessitating the township to walk a fine line between restricting and allowing within certain guidelines.

            However, the township is allowed to define a use for data centers, set performance standards, size standards, zones where they can exist, highway access, noise, water, power, and a host of other things that relate to the very pertinent concerns of residents.

            Luckily for Milford, they are not working on this without any guidance. There are several models on which the township can base its own ordinance. Milford has been using guidelines from county planning commissions on data centers, as well as examining existing or pending ordinances of nearby municipalities.

            The data center ordinance will be voted on at a future date not yet announced at this time.