Municipal Monday, Issue 11. A weekly digest of regulatory and development activity from 32 Central Pennsylvania municipalities.
THE PATTERN: Two of the data center hearings flagged last issue went forward. Windsor Township held its data center hearing on 7/20, and West Hanover Township held its rescheduled hearing on Ordinance 2026-01, covering data centers and battery energy storage systems, on 7/23. Neither outcome is posted yet, so both stand as hearings held, votes unconfirmed. The bigger development is South Hanover Township, where Ordinance 1-2026, the Data Center Overlay with a hearing set for 8/11, now has a specific project behind it: HCI DP Land Acquisition LLC has filed a special exception and variance covering roughly 250 to 496 acres at the former Pennsy Supply quarry, proposing two data center buildings plus a substation, about 806,800 square feet in total. Middlesex Township’s Planning Commission takes up the Pennsylvania Digital (PAX-1) Phase 3 and Phase 1-B plans on 7/27, East Hanover Township in Dauphin County is folding data center provisions into a broader zoning rewrite, and North Londonderry Township in Lebanon County added a data center zoning item on 7/20. That is six municipalities across four counties with active data center items.
ON THE BOARDS: Silver Spring Township’s 7/22 agenda carried two large plans: a PFAS treatment building at the township’s water treatment plant, with $1,532,499 in financial security, and a four-lot commercial consolidation on Waterford Drive at $1,203,206. Lower Allen Township’s Planning Commission recommended approval of Liberty Forge Phase 1, 45 single-family detached homes plus 8 attached units, and Hampden Township’s Planning Commission recommended approval of a 5-lot subdivision at 1500 Lamb’s Gap Road. Middlesex Township’s 7/27 agenda also carries a Sheetz #191 rebuild and Cumberland Range Estates Phase Six, and Carroll Township took up a minor final subdivision at 235 Camp Ground Road on 7/23.
LONG HORIZON: Camp Hill Borough opened a second front beyond its comprehensive plan request for proposals: at its 7/8 meeting, Council authorized advertising a LERTA tax abatement ordinance for downtown. East Hanover Township in Dauphin County continues a broad rewrite of its zoning ordinance, zoning map, and subdivision ordinance, and Silver Spring Township is advancing a zoning amendment tied to industrial noise standards.
COST TO WATCH: Silver Spring Township also released three completed securities on 7/22. Lower Paxton Township acted on five improvement guarantees on 7/21, including a new $12,573 bond and a full $8,262.60 release, and Windsor Township reduced the Patriot Depot bond to a final $288,335.85.
If you own or are working land in any of these jurisdictions, especially the six with active data center items, happy to talk through what these changes might mean for a specific parcel.
Municipal Monday runs weekly. Next issue: 8/3.