Clinton Township to draft data center regulations
CLINTON TWP — Following in the footsteps of several other municipalities in Butler County, Clinton Township is going through the municipal curative amendment process to add hard rules and regulations regarding data centers to the township’s zoning ordinance.
The township’s planning commission will have 180 days to draft a curative amendment to the zoning ordinance which will address data center development. This effectively prohibits any developer from submitting a proposal for any data center project in Clinton Township during the 180-day window.
Section 609.2 of Pennsylvania’s Municipal Planning Code allows municipalities to enact a curative amendment when they determine their zoning ordinance is “substantially invalid” for a particular use.
“When a new type of land use arises in our society that no one anticipated or knew was coming or would be invented, the MPC allows you to put a six-month pause on that type of land use in your municipality if your current zoning ordinance doesn’t address it,” said township solicitor John Bench. “So I recommended, and the board agreed, that this likely met that scenario. Our zoning ordinance does not address data centers or data center equipment.”
According to township supervisor Jason Davidek, no proposals for a data center had been brought to Clinton Township as of Monday, Oct. 26.
“We have not received any applications at this time,” Davidek said. “Should we (receive one) during that review process, any application would defer to that new ordinance when it comes online, so it’s more or less a moratorium. … Essentially, it’s bridging the gap, should we receive an application.”
Other areas in Butler County that have undergone, or are in the process of undergoing, the curative amendment process to address data center development in their zoning ordinances include Adams, Center, Lancaster and Buffalo townships.
Supervisors voted to table the adoption of the advertised comprehensive plan update. A public hearing was held for the comprehensive plan earlier that afternoon.
According to Davidek, supervisors are looking to incorporate feedback they received over the past month.
The township is looking to update its comprehensive plan for the first time since 2017. A comprehensive plan is an official, but nonbinding, document which lays out a municipality’s long-term vision for land use and development.
According to planning commission member Judy Wagner, the seven-member commission has been working on the updated plan for at least two years in accordance with recommended guidance from the Municipal Planning Code that municipalities update their comprehensive plan at least once every 10 years.
