Mar 12, 2026 By Jon Andreassi 2 min read

North Franklin Township will hold a public hearing next month on an ordinance that would regulate the development of cryptocurrency mining and data center facilities in the township.

The municipality’s board of supervisors voted Tuesday to schedule a public hearing on the ordinance for 4:30 p.m. April 14. There will also be a public hearing for an ordinance concerning fossil fuel electric generating facilities.

Bob Sabot, chair of the board of supervisors, said there are currently no plans for a data center in the township.

“No one has come forward saying they want to put a data center in North Franklin Township, but we’re being extremely proactive,” Sabot said.

The ordinance is being drafted by Sweat Law Offices, which represents North Franklin. Sabot said a copy would be available for public viewing by the end of the day Wednesday at the municipal building at 345 Franklin Farms Road.

Data centers, complexes consisting of large warehouses filled with servers and computing equipment, have recently become a contentious area of public interest in South Strabane Township. A 1,400-acre tract of land off of Zediker Station Road has been raised as a potential location for such a facility, though there are currently no plans for one to be built.

However, Sabot says township officials have not been influenced by what is happening in other communities.

“It has been something the township supervisors have talked about for a couple of months,” Sabot said.

Sabot added that he has a “personal connection” to the issue, as he grew up in Springdale, Allegheny County, where a data center has been approved for development.

He hopes the same does not happen in North Franklin.

“Obviously, we don’t want it here in this community. You can’t totally keep something out, but you can do restrictions as far as height of buildings, offsets, things of that nature,” Sabot said. “Those types of things can all be in ordinances to protect residents.”

Sabot said he is concerned about the potential noise generated by a data center, as well as the effect it could have on electric bills and how much water it could use.

He called the ordinance a “work in progress” that will likely be changed after hearing from residents.

“We haven’t had a public hearing yet. We haven’t heard all the suggestions and ideas. It’s still open to what that will totally be,” Sabot said.