Bethlehem City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to give initial approval to the city's first zoning rules for data centers, with a final vote scheduled for October 20. The new ordinance would restrict data centers to the Industrial district only, require a public hearing before the Zoning Hearing Board, mandate multiple pre-approval studies covering water, sewer, energy, noise, heat, and emergency plans, and impose a 1,000-foot setback from homes, schools, parks, hospitals, and day cares. A proposed two-story, 65,000-square-foot data center at 2184 Industrial Drive, put forward by Boyle Construction, Paxos, and Tensor IQ of Newark, Delaware, would not be eligible under the new rules but will be reviewed under the current code because its application predates the amendment. That project goes before the city Planning Commission on November 12 in the Town Hall Rotunda.
The ordinance sets a specific 1,000-foot residential setback and tiered lot-size requirements that grow sharply with building size, establishing a detailed local regulatory framework at a moment when Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's August 18 executive order already conditions state environmental permits on local approval. The grandfathering of the Industrial Drive project illustrates a tension common in fast-moving data center zoning efforts: rules often arrive after at least one project is already in the pipeline.
A unanimous 7-0 city council vote on formal data center zoning rules is a significant regulatory action, and resident comments framing it as 'only a start' signals ongoing policy tension worth tracking. This is a distinct local government action not covered in the already-published list.