Municipal Monday, Issue 07. A weekly digest of regulatory and development activity from 32 Central Pennsylvania municipalities.
THE PATTERN: The data center wave is no longer running one playbook. This week the story was not how many municipalities are writing rules, but how differently they are choosing to do it. Upper Allen Township adopted resolutions on June 17 to initiate a curative amendment — the Municipalities Planning Code route a municipality uses when it concludes its own ordinance may not lawfully provide for a use. Monaghan Township in York County went the opposite direction, taking up two data center moratorium resolutions on June 8. In between sits a cluster moving conventional zoning ordinances toward adoption: South Hanover Township scheduled a July 1 special meeting to advertise its data center ordinance, Lower Allen Township set a July 13 public hearing on proposed Ordinance 2026-04, South Londonderry Township held a June 9 hearing on Ordinance 234, and Newberry Township authorized forwarding its draft ordinance to its Planning Commission and York County for review. Silver Spring Township went a step further and retained an acoustic consultant for data center technical review ahead of its July 22 hearing. Three legal tools, one wave.
ON THE BOARDS: An unusually active plan review week. South Middleton Township carried Georgetowne on June 25, a preliminary subdivision and land development of 115.51 acres for 205 lots — the largest single residential plan across the municipalities we track this week — along with hearings for The Learning Experience. East Hanover Township (Dauphin County) advanced a developer agreement amendment for Hanover Logistics 1 and 2, along with a sanitary sewer easement and authorization to vacate Ole Lane. West Hanover Township carried Country Gate on Manor Drive, and Reading Township (Adams County) acted on a Conewago Ridge plan extension.
LONG HORIZON: East Hanover Township (Dauphin County) continues proposed updates to its zoning ordinance, zoning map, and subdivision and land development ordinance — the kind of foundational rewrite that reshapes what is permitted for years. Susquehanna Township adopted its six-park master plan on June 25.
COST TO WATCH: Susquehanna Township moved Ordinance 2026-04, which would change stormwater facility inspections from once every three to five years to an annual inspection with a June 1 reporting deadline, aligning with state guidance. Advertisement is set for an August 13 hearing. For anyone who owns or maintains a stormwater facility, that is a new recurring obligation. Upper Allen revised its community development fee schedule on June 17, and Newberry advanced a solid waste ordinance amendment and a sewer plant upgrade headed to bid.
If you own or are working land in any of these jurisdictions, happy to talk through what a specific item means for a specific parcel.
Municipal Monday runs weekly. Next issue: 7/6.