Somerset County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a new ordinance regulating data centers, requiring developers to generate 150% of their power onsite and keep facilities at least 1,000 feet from existing homes. The vote came after a two-hour public comment session at the Bakersville Volunteer Fire Department, where about 50 residents showed up to weigh in on a type of development that hasn't yet arrived in the county but is spreading fast across Pennsylvania.
The ordinance, passed alongside four related measures on communications towers, wind turbines, solar facilities and subdivision and land development, took effect immediately after the vote, according to the Daily American. As of the hearing, no potential data center project had been officially filed in Somerset County, the paper reported — meaning commissioners wrote the rules ahead of any specific proposal landing on their desks. WTAJ similarly reported that commissioners passed the ordinance after the public hearing to help regulate potential data centers before any specific plans surface.
Beyond the power and setback rules, the ordinance also includes limits on noise and creates the 1,000-foot buffer requirement between facilities and nearby homes, per WTAJ's reporting. WJAC reported that the measure separately establishes a 1,000-foot setback from existing homes located outside a data center project's own property line, and that developers must hold their own public meeting before even submitting an application to the county.
What the Ordinance Actually Covers
According to the Daily American, the ordinance clarifies how the county will handle potential impacts involving noise, vibration, dust, air and smoke, and it spells out requirements for both on-site and backup power generation. It also lays out guidelines for decommissioning a data center once it reaches the end of its useful life. The revisions note that air, water and noise impacts remain subject to state and federal laws, and that any waste products must be disposed of in compliance with those laws, the station's report notes.
Commissioner Irvin Kimmel Jr. told WTAJ that resident input shaped the final product. “We have incorporated a lot of the public comment in there,” Kimmel said. Commissioners also said comments from a Sept. 29 meeting helped them craft a better ordinance, and Kimmel added that the rules can be amended at any time at a future public hearing, according to the Daily American.
Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes called the ordinance a starting point. She said it provides protection the county did not previously have, per the Daily American's account of the meeting. Solicitor Benjamin Carroll told attendees that county regulation occupies a middle ground between state rules and whatever a local municipality might eventually pass, and that Somerset County intends to protect residents through its own ordinance in the absence of adequate state or local controls.
Why Commissioners Wouldn't Issue a Moratorium
Some residents at the hearing pushed commissioners to issue a moratorium on data center construction instead, worried the development could harm the county's environment for current and future generations. Carroll explained that state and federal law prohibit an outright ban on a single type of land use such as data centers, meaning the county cannot write regulations so restrictive they effectively block the industry altogether, the Daily American reported.
Carroll also said that, based on Pennsylvania case law, a moratorium would not actually protect the county while the ordinance is still being refined and could instead invite a legal challenge. He told attendees an amendment to the ordinance is very likely in the coming months, since officials plan to keep gathering information and public feedback to guide possible changes. Brian Fochtman said the meeting itself went well, with residents and county officials interacting directly and attendees walking away with pertinent information about why the county felt it needed to act, according to the Daily American.
A Statewide Wave of New Rules
Somerset County isn't moving in isolation. Dozens of data center facilities have recently been proposed across Pennsylvania, according to the Tribune-Democrat, and at least 10 are proposed in southwestern Pennsylvania alone, including a large-scale Amazon facility headed for construction in Homer City, Indiana County. Pennsylvania has become what one report from The Conversation described as a hot spot for data center proposals and the public backlash over where to build them.
Other Pennsylvania communities are grappling with the same questions. Price Township's planning documents note that no data center development has been proposed or approved anywhere within the township even as it considers a roughly 96.96-acre overlay district along State Route 447 — and that the proposed ordinance there would only set a framework, not authorize construction or approve a specific project. Elsewhere, municipalities including Fairview Township, Butler Township and Arendtsville Borough have restricted data centers to industrial zones, while Mayfield Borough limited them to commercial zones, and ordinances around the state have set setbacks ranging anywhere from 50 feet to 400 feet, per The Conversation's reporting.
WJAC reported separately that local municipalities and townships across Pennsylvania are weighing what data center projects could mean for their communities as proposals continue to spread. For now, Somerset County residents with comments or suggestions on the new ordinance can reach the Somerset County Planning Commission at 814-445-1544 or [email protected], with commissioners signaling that further changes are likely once more public input comes in.
