Foster Township (Luzerne County), PA — Zoning Amendment Restricting Data Centers to Conditional Use in the AEO Overlay

The amendment defines 'Data Center' — expressly including cryptocurrency mining, blockchain transaction processing and server farms — and 'Data Center Accessory Use', then sets the use table so data centers are NOT permitted in the B-2, B-3, A-1, C-1, I-1, I-2 and S-1 districts, and are allowed only as a conditional use in the AEO energy overlay district. New supplemental regulations impose a 2,000-foot setback from all property lines and from sensitive uses, a 40-foot height cap inclusive of roof-mounted equipment, a mandatory enclosing buffer, preliminary, interim and as-built acoustical studies enforcing a 65 dB(A) daytime limit, a vibration study, a water feasibility study with drawdown testing of wells within 3,000 feet and DRBC approval where thresholds are met, DEP/SEO wastewater approval, electric-provider capacity certification, NFPA 30/70/75/76/110/855 compliance, a fire-department-accepted Emergency Response Plan with applicant-funded municipal cost mitigation, and a decommissioning plan backed by bond or escrow reviewed bi-annually.

Technical detail

Amends Art. II §203 definitions, the §502 Residential and Nonresidential Use Table, and Art. VIII §801 supplemental regulations of the Foster Township Zoning Ordinance; new §801.52 carries the siting standards. Adopted and effective 2026-07-08 per the executed ordinance. Pennsylvania case law requires a municipality to allow a use somewhere, which the AEO overlay nominally satisfies; press reports the overlay covers only two small areas, one including state game lands.

Who is protected: Township residents and neighbouring landowners, through 2,000-foot setbacks from homes, childcare, schools, dormitories, personal care and nursing homes, community centers, places of worship, outdoor recreation and correctional facilities, plus acoustical, vibration, water-drawdown, wastewater, fire-safety and decommissioning requirements.

Who must comply: All applicants and landowners in Foster Township seeking to establish a data center or data center accessory use, and all township review bodies.

Key facts

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