Washington Township Weighs Changes to Data Center Rules

Washington Township's supervisors could change the data center rules they adopted less than five months ago. The Board of Supervisors holds a public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22 at the township building, 120 Barto Road, Barto, on an amendment to Section 131-82 of the zoning ordinance, the section titled "Data Centers and Data Center Accessory Uses." The legal notice, signed by solicitor Joan E. London, says the board may enact the amendment at the meeting right after the hearing or at a later advertised meeting.

What the amendment covers

The notice gives a one-sentence summary: the amendment would "amend and supplement water and sewer, power supply and decommissioning requirements" for data centers. Decommissioning means what happens to a data center's buildings and equipment once it shuts down, including who removes them and who pays.

The full text is not posted online. The notice says it can be read at the township building or at the Berks County Law Library in the courthouse at 633 Court St., Reading. The notice was scheduled to run in the Reading Eagle on Oct. 6 and 13, and the township homepage links it under "Public Notice." It carries no ordinance number.

What the rules say now

Until this week, our data center tracker said we could not confirm from township records whether Washington Township had finished a data center ordinance. Its own documents now show that it did. The May 28 minutes record a public hearing on what the township calls its "AI Data Center Ordinance," running from 7:05 to 8:10 p.m., followed by a unanimous vote by Chairman Romnie Long, Vice Chairman Thomas Powanda and Supervisor Matthew McCluskey to adopt Ordinance 2026-1. The signed 17-page ordinance is posted on the township's ordinances page; it may not yet appear in the township's online code.

That ordinance created Section 131-82. It allows data centers only by special exception in the commercial, light industrial and general industrial districts, on at least 10 acres, set back at least 500 feet from homes, schools, churches, parks and other "sensitive receptors." Under state law a special exception is decided by the appointed zoning hearing board, not the supervisors, as our guide to township boards explains, though this ordinance still gives the supervisors a say on the decommissioning bond amount and the spill-prevention plan. Noise at the property line during normal operations may not exceed the existing background level, day or night.

The three areas the amendment targets already have rules. On water and sewer, the ordinance requires a public sewer connection, a closed-loop water system for cooling, a water feasibility study with a geologic map covering at least a mile around the site, and applicant-paid upgrades. On power, it requires a letter from the electric utility confirming capacity and applicant-funded fixes if the grid falls short. On decommissioning, the owner must remove the facility within six months of shutting down and post financial assurance covering the full estimated cost, re-estimated every 10 years.

How the changes developed

The revisions came through the Planning Commission. At its Aug. 6 meeting, the commission reviewed written suggestions from Chairman Long and Barbara Dunn, secretary of the township's Environmental Advisory Council: review the decommissioning bond every five years instead of 10, tied to the ENR index, a construction cost index; widen the water study's mapping radius from one mile to two; and require that all studies be prepared by an engineer or geologist licensed in Pennsylvania. Matt Peleschak, representing the engineering firm SDE Inc., said only employee wastewater would go to the public sewer; cooling water would stay in a closed loop and be hauled off site if removed.

At the supervisors' Aug. 27 meeting, London presented the commission's recommended changes and said authorization had already been given to send them to the Berks County Planning Commission. On Sept. 3, the commission added one revision: drop the word "water" from "closed-loop water circulation," because liquids other than water can cool the equipment. The item was listed as "ongoing" on the Sept. 24 supervisors agenda and came up for discussion on the Oct. 1 Planning Commission agenda.

The notice does not say which of those suggestions made it into the advertised amendment; only the full text at the township building or the Law Library answers that. The notice also lists power supply among the three subjects, and none of the Planning Commission minutes posted so far records a power-supply change (the Oct. 1 minutes are not yet up), so part of the amendment is not described in any posted record. None of the township documents we reviewed names a specific data center proposal in Washington Township.

Where this fits

Washington Township's May ordinance tracks parts of the county Planning Commission's advice sheet, which urges municipalities to define the use and allow it only in districts capable of handling the utility and water demand. It departs from the sheet on two points: the county recommends conditional use, a path in which the supervisors themselves hold the hearing and decide, where Washington chose special exception, and the county suggests reviewing decommissioning costs every five years, where Washington wrote 10, the interval the Long and Dunn suggestion would shorten. Windsor Township adopted its ordinance in August, Perry Township adopted its rules Sept. 8, and our six-township roundup covers Colebrookdale and Longswamp townships.

How to attend or comment

The hearing is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, in the meeting room at the Washington Township Municipal Building, 120 Barto Road, Barto. A public hearing is where residents can speak on the record before the board votes. The township calendar lists the Water Authority meeting in the same room at 6:30 p.m.

To read the amendment first, visit the township office, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, or the Berks County Law Library, which the county lists on the 5th floor of the courthouse at 633 Court St., open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays; the township's notice routes requests through Court Administration on the 7th floor. Residents who need accommodations can call the township at 610-845-7760.

We will report what the board does Thursday night.