Limmerick supervisors authorize public hearing on tighter data center rules after months of public concern

Limmerick Township supervisors voted June 16 to authorize a public hearing on a comprehensive set of proposed amendments to the township's data center zoning rules, a move staff said is intended to give the township updated tools to manage energy-intensive facilities while ensuring public safety and minimizing neighborhood impacts.

Planning and legal staff outlined the proposal to require that a data-center tract be capped so no portion is more than one mile from the Evergreen Road/Lake Cap Road intersection (a change intended to prevent large land assemblages), to reduce permitted building height from 120 feet to 80 feet, and to increase the setback from any existing residential dwelling to 1,000 feet (with a potential reduction to 500 feet if acoustical mitigation is demonstrated). Solicitor Rebecca Geyser said the drafts rely on Montgomery County's model ordinance and other recent local examples.

Greta, a township planner, said the draft also adds new operational and technical requirements: annual noise studies that include C-weighted decibel measurements (proposed county-guidance limits of 60 dBC day and 50 dBC night), removal of an emergency-operation exemption so generators must be included in noise mitigation studies, a requirement for closed-loop cooling systems with a wastewater-disposal analysis, a decommissioning plan with a fund equal to 110% of estimated decommissioning costs (updated every five years), an electrical-rate impact certification from utilities, and an emergency services coordination plan that will reference NFPA 855 for on-site energy storage safety.

Board members and members of the public pressed for stronger protections on multiple fronts: wider residential setbacks (one member proposed 1,500 feet), mandatory on-site treatment or disclosure of wastewater and hazardous materials, community benefit agreements and an on-site emergency response capability. Legal counsel cautioned that standards so restrictive they effectively prevent the use across the township could be challenged as an unlawful taking or result in a deemed approval under the Municipalities Planning Code; staff recommended the 1,000/500-foot framework from the county model as legally defensible while still protective.

The board's authorization begins the formal process: the draft ordinance will be circulated to the Montgomery County Planning Commission and the township planning commission, published in the legal paper and made available at the township building and law library before a public hearing is scheduled. Staff committed to further technical follow-ups on energy storage (NFPA 855), wastewater treatment/disposal, and potential additional noise or heat-island measures before final adoption.

A speaker in public comment urged the board to consider an 18-month moratorium to pause new applications during ordinance updates; staff reminded the public that proposed changes will not affect pending conditional use applications, which are typically grandfathered under state law.

The board's action at the meeting was to authorize advertisement of the zoning amendments for a public hearing; a full vote on adoption would occur only after the public hearing and required reviews.