RICHMOND TOWNSHIP – Township supervisors agreed for advertise a change to the zoning ordinance intended to limit data centers and other uses not mentioned, by adding the term “uses not provided for.”
Though they didn’t say much about the details of the ordinances, secretary Mary House said the issue must be addressed, according to advice offered to local municipalities at a meeting last month addressing zoning and land development.
“It won’t just be to limit where businesses such as data centers or solar farms can go. It is for any use that isn’t specifically mentioned in our zoning ordinance. We will be looking into what areas we would ‘allow’ a data center/solar farms to be in but that hasn’t been done as of yet,” House said.
In a previous meeting supervisors ratified a decision that Richmond Township will utilize Tioga County’s Solar Ordinance.
“We can’t stop them; we can make it harder for them to jump through the hoops. According to the Municipal Code, you have to provide zoning,” House said.
“We are trying to contain them in certain areas,” supervisor Trish Hall said, but did not elaborate.
In particular, the data center issue has become a real concern for many residents of smaller towns and rural areas, as data centers use a lot of water, drain electricity from the grid, causing higher electric bills across the board, and take up valuable farmland. There are several already in the state or planned, such as one in Berwick near the formerly named Three Mile Island nuclear power plants.
In other business, the supervisors:
- Approved a private lane for Gary Butters for a development off Route 15 next to C&N Bank.
- Agreed to have PennDOT representative Brian Haight ride with roadmaster Wade Brion to determine what roads in the township will need resurfacing in the spring.
- Reminded residents that only corrugated cardboard is accepted at the recycling center. No cereal boxes, beer boxes or other printed on cardboard. There is also no styrofoam allowed. For more information on rules for using the recycling center, contact House at the township office.
