West Penn Township supervisors adopted an ordinance that regulates data centers in the township.

The board passed the ordinance, which also addresses commercial solar farms, on a unanimous vote Monday evening.

“I really feel we did the right thing,” board Chairman Tony Prudenti said after the vote.

The decision followed a 90-minute public hearing on the ordinance.

About two dozen residents attended.

Toward the end of the hearing, Prudenti informally surveyed attendees to ask whether or they were in favor of the ordinance’s approval. The majority, in a show of hands, said that they did.

The board has been working on the ordinance for some time.

Solicitor Paul Datte discussed the most recent revisions to the ordinance.

He explained that the centers would only be permitted as a conditional use in industrial districts. Previous wording permitted them as a special exception use, Datte noted.

The difference, he said, is that a conditional use would require approval by supervisors while a special exception would only need a vote from the township’s Zoning Hearing Board.

Datte said the centers would have to be a minimum of 1,000 feet from residential districts.

And, he said, noise level limits were reduced from levels listed in a previous draft of the ordinance. They now range between 40 and 50 decibels, down from 60 to 70 decibels.

The centers must have a water recirculation system, and wouldn’t be able to use on-site wells for cooling purposes if public water is available.

If using “nonpublic” water, they would have to complete a water feasibility study.

With no public water, they would also have to meet a stringent set of water extraction requirements, which are part of a separate ordinance.

“I don’t think we had a water extraction business come into the township since we adopted that ordinance,” he said.

Prudenti noted that rumors have been circulating about a data center coming to the township.

“There have been no applications for a data center,” he said.

After the vote was taken, Prudenti thanked residents for their patience with the ordinance’s preparation.

“Thank you for going through this process with us,” he said. “It was long and tedious.”

He said that by adopting the ordinance, no data center could come in “tomorrow” and build without any restrictions.

“I really feel this protects us,” Prudenti said.