Voters will decide on Nov. 3, 2026 whether to grow the township board from 3 supervisors to 5. Residents gathered at least 500 signatures to put the question on the ballot. They acted after anger over how the township handled a 1.5 million square foot data center plan on a former 79-acre Superfund site.

Nov 3, 2026Source

📜 Data center rules · East Whiteland Township

East Whiteland supervisors voted unanimously for a 32-page data center ordinance. It sets distances data centers must keep from homes, schools, daycares, parks and churches, and limits noise, water use, cooling systems and power supplies. It does not apply to the data center already being built.

Sept 2026Source

📌 Other · East Whiteland Township

East Whiteland ordered the developers to stop work on the data center at the former Foote Mineral Superfund site. The township said work cannot restart until the water company confirms enough water is available. It was the second stop-work order that summer.

Aug 26, 2026Source

📜 Data center rules · West Vincent Township

West Vincent Township passed Ordinance 227-2026 to set rules for data centers. They can only be built in one commercial and light industrial zone, and only with special approval from the supervisors (a conditional use).

June 15, 2026Source

⚖️ Court case · East Whiteland Township

A county judge threw out two appeals by residents who challenged the township's approvals for a 1.5 million-square-foot data center on Bacton Hill Road. The judge called the appeals frivolous, noting one came eight years after the 2018 zoning decision.

June 11, 2026Source

✋ Turned down · East Vincent Township

East Vincent supervisors voted unanimously to deny a plan for a large data center campus on the old Pennhurst State School and Hospital site. The township planning commission had already recommended against it. The developer said it plans to appeal.

May 21, 2026Source

📜 Data center rules · North Coventry Township

North Coventry supervisors asked township staff to start writing a data center ordinance, so rules are ready if another project is proposed.

May 2026Source

🗺️ Zoning change · Tredyffrin Township

Tredyffrin supervisors voted unanimously to have staff draft zoning changes for data centers, even though no project had been proposed there. Leaders said they wanted rules in place before any application arrives.

April 21, 2026Source

📜 Data center rules · Kennett Township

Kennett Township staff recommended that supervisors have the township lawyer draft a data center ordinance, even though no data center is planned there. The staff memo pointed to the new Chester County model guide.

April 8, 2026Source

📌 Other · Chester County

The Chester County Planning Commission, working with Montgomery County, published a Data Center Ordinance Guide with sample zoning rules towns can copy. It suggests allowing large data centers only through a conditional use review, keeping them 1,000 feet from homes, and limiting height and noise.

April 2026Source

📌 Other · East Whiteland Township

With hundreds of residents present, the East Whiteland Planning Commission voted unanimously to urge supervisors to look hard at Green Fig's plan to grow its approved data center from 1 million to 1.7 million square feet.

March 9, 2026Source

⏸️ Pause on new data centers · East Whiteland Township

East Whiteland supervisors started a 180-day pause on new data center proposals so the township could write data center zoning rules. The pause did not stop the data center already approved at the old Foote Mineral site.

March 2026Source

✋ Turned down · North Coventry Township

North Coventry supervisors voted 3-2 to reject a proposed small data center on Schuylkill Road before a formal application was even filed. After strong public opposition, the developer dropped the plan.

Feb 2026Source

📜 Data center rules · East Vincent Township

East Vincent supervisors talked about a data center ordinance with height, setback and pollution rules. After residents asked them not to pass it while the Pennhurst plan was pending, the board decided not to move forward with it.

Dec 17, 2025Source

✅ Approved · East Whiteland Township

East Whiteland supervisors granted development plan approval for a data center at 13 S. Bacton Hill Road, on the former Foote Mineral Superfund site. The project builds on a zoning permit from 2018 and is now under construction.

2024Source

Find your town

In Pennsylvania, your township, borough or city usually decides where data centers can go.