Perry Township to Vote on Data Center Zoning Rules

Perry Township's supervisors plan to hold a public hearing and then vote on the township's first zoning rules for data centers at their meeting Tuesday, September 8. The hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. and the vote comes at the regular meeting right after, at 7 p.m., at the Perry Township Municipal Building, 680 Moselem Springs Road, Shoemakersville.

The rules decide where a data center can be built in the township, so they affect neighbors, property owners, and anyone near the land the ordinance covers.

What the ordinance does

A data center is a large building full of computer servers that store and run online services. The biggest ones draw heavy electricity and water and run cooling equipment that can be noisy, which is why where they are allowed, called zoning, has become a flashpoint across Berks County.

The amendment would change Perry Township's 1988 zoning ordinance. According to the township's public notice, it would:

• add definitions for "data center," "data center equipment," and "closed-loop cooling system"
• allow a data center as a conditional use in the CLI Commercial Light-Industrial District, meaning it is permitted there only if it meets a set of extra conditions the township reviews and approves
• set those conditional-use conditions and performance standards, the specific limits a project must satisfy

The notice describes the categories but not the specific numbers, such as how far a building must sit from property lines or how much noise it can make. The full ordinance text is not posted online. It is available to read at the township building and at the Berks County Law Library on the 7th floor of the county courthouse, 633 Court Street, Reading. The posted documents do not assign the ordinance a number.

Perry joins a countywide push

Perry, a rural township north of Reading near Hamburg, is one of a growing number of Berks municipalities writing data-center rules as developers scout sites. Perry was among six Hamburg-area governments flagged in our August preview of the wider wave, when its rules were still in drafting. Neighboring Windsor Township adopted its own data-center ordinance in August, also as a conditional use with limits on noise, setbacks, and buffers, and Upper Bern Township votes on its data-center and solar rules September 10. Our Berks County data-center tracker lists where every project and ordinance stands.

How to weigh in

• The public hearing is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Perry Township Municipal Building, 680 Moselem Springs Road, Shoemakersville, followed by the 7 p.m. regular meeting where the board votes. The township's agenda says the meeting is also available on Zoom. The public notice lists the township number, 610-562-2133, as the contact for anyone who needs a disability accommodation to take part.
• Both the hearing and the regular meeting take public comment. The township lists no sign-up or time limit.
• To read the full text before the vote, visit the township building or the Berks County Law Library at the courthouse.
• For what a township controls versus the county and the state, see how Berks County government works; to keep track of your own local meetings, see our guide to township and borough meeting schedules.

Berks Beat will report the outcome once the township adopts the ordinance or posts a public notice of the vote.