Swatara Township PA data center ordinance (2026)
Swatara Township, Pennsylvania — Ordinance Defining Data Centers and Admitting Them to the Industrial District Subject to a 35-Foot Height Cap, a 300-Foot Residential Setback, Proof of an Electric Service Provider, a Traffic Study and an Emergency Management Plan (August 2026)
Swatara Township, PA · Swatara Township, Pa. — ordinance governing data centers and revising the residential forest district (adopted August 2026)
- Status
- In effect
- Took effect
- August 17, 2026
- Applies to
- Data center developers in Swatara Township — confined to the industrial district, capped at 35 feet, set back 300 feet from residential, and required to produce electric service provider documentation, a traffic study and an emergency management plan
- Enforced by
- Swatara Township Board of Supervisors; township zoning administration
The Swatara Township Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted an ordinance at its regular monthly August 2026 meeting that revises the residential forest district and governs data centers. The data center provisions are among the more complete in this dataset, and they are specific enough to be usable. The ordinance ESTABLISHES DEFINITIONS for data centers and places them as an ALLOWED USE IN THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT, with limitations including a 35-FOOT MAXIMUM HEIGHT and a 300-FOOT SETBACK FROM RESIDENTIAL properties. Three submission requirements go further than most: the applicant must produce DOCUMENTATION FROM AN ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDER THAT WILL SERVE THE DATA CENTER, a TRAFFIC STUDY, and an EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN. The electric-service documentation is the notable one. It requires a developer to demonstrate that power is actually available and committed before the township approves anything — which addresses the problem several jurisdictions in this dataset have run into from the other end, where a facility is approved locally and the grid consequences surface afterwards. Fort Worth, Texas reached the same idea by a different route, requiring evidence of PUCT or ERCOT interconnection approval at multiple stages of development review. A 35-foot height cap is also notably low for an industrial use and would constrain building form considerably.
Who is protected: Swatara Township residents in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, particularly properties within 300 feet of the industrial district
Legal detail
Swatara Township, Pa. (Lebanon County) — ORDINANCE adopted UNANIMOUSLY by the Board of Supervisors at its regular monthly meeting in August 2026, making revisions to the RESIDENTIAL FOREST DISTRICT and GOVERNING DATA CENTERS. DATA CENTER PROVISIONS: (1) ESTABLISHES DEFINITIONS for data centers \u2014 the step whose absence created exposure in Clayton OH 365-day data center moratorium (2026) (a data center readable as a WAREHOUSE), Palm Springs Data Center Moratorium (2026) (no definition in the municipal or zoning codes) and Montgomery Township PA data center curative regulations (2026) (zoning declared substantively invalid for failing to identify the use); (2) places data centers as an ALLOWED USE IN THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT; (3) 35-FOOT MAXIMUM HEIGHT \u2014 notably restrictive for an industrial use, and well below the 65-foot cap in Portage IN Technology Campus district data center rules (2026) or the 100-foot cap (waivable to 165) in Corunna MI data center zoning ordinance (2026), which would materially constrain building form and may push floor area outward; (4) 300-FOOT SETBACK FROM RESIDENTIAL, between Corunna's 500 feet and Portage's 200 feet from non-residential property. THREE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS, and the first is the transferable one: (a) DOCUMENTATION FROM AN ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDER THAT WILL SERVE THE DATA CENTER. This makes demonstrated, committed power a PRECONDITION OF LOCAL APPROVAL rather than a downstream discovery. The same idea appears in Fort Worth TX 90-day moratorium process + Data Center Commission (Aug 11, 2026), whose adopted ordinance requires EVIDENCE OF PUCT OR ERCOT GRID INTERCONNECTION APPROVAL at pre-development conferences, platting, building permits and infrastructure plan review \u2014 making a state grid determination a precondition to a municipal land-use approval. Swatara achieves a similar effect through the utility rather than the regulator, which is available to any municipality regardless of its state's grid governance. (b) a TRAFFIC STUDY; (c) an EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN \u2014 relevant to on-site fuel, battery storage and generator hazards, the class of risk that drove Mount Vernon WA six-month data center moratorium (2026)'s flood-siting concern and Austin County TX data center and BESS moratorium (2026)'s fire-safety evaluation. The residential forest district revisions in the same ordinance are not detailed in the located source.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | Swatara Township, PA |
|---|---|
| Level | City / local |
| Strength | Stronger |
| Enacted | August 17, 2026 |
| Citation | Swatara Township, Pa. — ordinance governing data centers and revising the residential forest district (adopted August 2026) |
| Private right of action | No, agency enforcement only |
| Penalties | Data centers may be established only in the industrial district and only on satisfying the height, setback and documentation requirements |
| Topics | data-center siting and energy · consumer protection · government use of AI |
| News report | Swatara township passes data center, residential forest revision ordinance — LebTown |
Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere
- Superior WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Dane County WI Hyperscale Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- Madison WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Manitowoc County WI Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- WA SB 5982 (Data Center / Clean Energy) · In effect
- Dayton OH data center moratorium (180-day, Apr 2026) · In effect
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