Tamaqua Borough Council approved an amendment that would restrict where data centers, warehouses and short-term rentals can be placed in the area.

At this week’s council meeting, members approved a curative amendment for the Eastern Schuylkill Regional Planning zoning ordinance.

Tamaqua, along with the townships of Rush, Schuylkill and Walker, share zoning as part of the ESRP. Under the current zoning, data centers, warehouses and short-term rentals aren’t addressed, solicitor Anthony Odorizzi said.

“We have to provide somewhere where those can be implemented,” he explained.

The ESRP will be able to decide whether and where it wants those uses to be permitted. But it does have to permit some areas for their locations, he said.

“If we recognize tonight that we have a deficiency in our ordinance because we don’t provide for those uses right now, we then have 180 days to fix that. They call it a curative amendment,” Odorizzi said.

During that time, he said, no data centers, warehouses or short-term rentals can locate in the four municipalities. Municipalities will work on the ordinance, and after the six months, anyone with plans for the three uses will be subject to the ordinance requirements.

“There are other uses we will look at down the road that are not so pressing and consequential,” Odorizzi said.

Council voted unanimously to recognize the deficiency in the zoning ordinance. Members then voted in favor of approving a resolution authorizing the curative amendment to the ESRP zoning.

“I don’t know that Tamaqua has an area that really could house those (three uses),” council President Brian Connely said. “But regardless, we’re taking care of it.”

At a recent ESRP meeting, Odorizzi said that William McMullen of ARRO Consulting was appointed to handle engineering, while he and attorney Chris Riedlinger will handle the legal side. All three have worked with and are familiar with the municipalities.

Last week, Rush Township supervisors recognized the deficiency and approved the curative amendment.

Riedlinger, the solicitor for Rush, Walker and Schuylkill townships, told the Rush board that early ESRP discussions hinted at the creation of an “industrial-type zone” for data centers in the vicinity of the boundary line of Schuylkill and Walker townships along Route 309. He said talks will continue.

Riedlinger also noted that no data center projects are in the works at the moment.