Cecil moves toward enacting data center ordinance

Nov 6, 2026 By Conner Goetz 3 min read

Cecil Township is on track to enact a comprehensive ordinance regulating data center development sometime in early 2027 after a productive Wednesday night workshop meeting.

Township officials have worked toward the ordinance over two similar workshops in April and July.

Cecil is one of several Washington County municipalities that have begun the data center regulatory process in earnest after a large parcel of land in South Strabane Township was listed for sale as a prime location for a potential data center in late 2025, which triggered a wave of public interest in the high-tech industry.

According to township Solicitor Gretchen Moore, she used a model ordinance provided by environmental advocacy nonprofit Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) as the starting point for Cecil’s draft ordinance.

The draft ordinance makes a clear distinction between “major” and “minor” data centers, Moore said, with the latter constrained to one building occupying a maximum of 20,000 square feet total space and a power connection to an existing electricity source.

These smaller centers are often placed in existing office parks or other already-developed properties.

The “major” data centers must be built on a minimum of 10 acres of land in specific industrial zoning with their own independent power generation so as to not raise rates for township residents, Moore said.

Both types are subject to the same requirements regarding light, noise and pollution.

Supervisor Cindy Fisher said she likes that the draft ordinance differentiates the two types of data centers, and that the ordinance is written differently than the township’s existing regulations for oil and natural gas drilling.

The oil and natural gas ordinance allows these projects to be built in any zoning district within the township, given that it meets a 2,500-foot property line setback requirement and secures a special conditional use waiver.

The proposed data center ordinance specifies industrial for major or special development district zoning for minor data center projects.

As currently written, the ordinance requires major data centers to observe a 500-foot setback from any property line abutting a residential district, which seems “a little small,” Fisher said.

She said this number may need further revision, alongside a handful of other small edits and clarifications.

Resident Nancy Loy Edmunds said she would like to see this setback increased to be more in line with the oil and gas setback, asking whether it was “restrictive enough.”

Another township resident, Debra Lee, asked that the board update the draft ordinance to require data center developers to complete regular pollution and emissions reports for the township in addition to their existing reporting requirements under state and federal law.

Fisher said she would like to see the township formally adopt the ordinance during its regular meeting in January 2027 after presenting it for public review in December.