Nesquehoning is looking at creating an ordinance to regulate how data centers would operate within the borough limits.

Last week, the borough planning commission met to begin the process of creating an ordinance, considering the massive centers proposed nationally and regionally.

Borough solicitor Robert Yurchak stressed the need to creating an ordinance to borough council for centers and said while the borough can’t deny a data center coming into the borough, it can have say over how it is regulated.

The planning commission looked at several surrounding municipalities’ ordinance proposals regarding regulating data centers.

“What we’re trying to do is determine regulations for data centers coming into the borough,” Yurchak told the commission. “We have to provide some place in the borough for it.”

He pointed out that many of the surrounding communities are putting data centers in industrial zones, with some communities in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties allowing it outright, while most others, mainly in Carbon, are making it a conditional use application.

Conditional use means that a project would have to apply and get approved by borough council.

“Our job is planning and to outline those areas and then present it to borough council,” said John McArdle, planning commission vice chairman.

Yurchak added that the planning commission would need to determine where data centers would be permitted and what restrictions the borough would put on them.

McArdle said that he attended an informal meeting with Bitfarms regarding the plan and noted that the company said approximately 230 employees would be there once the center was constructed for the round-the-clock operations.

“It’s a pretty large complex,” commission member Bruce Nalesnik said.

McArdle said that Bitfarms representatives provided information regarding electric and water usage, noting that the water being used at the plant would require approximately 3,000 gallons a day due to it being a closed loop system, while the power line PPL Electric is running from Tresckow to Hauto to the Panther Creek property is being paid for by Bitfarms and that there is a misconception that homeowner electric rates would skyrocket.

“They’re opening the door for a lot of opportunity,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of good that’s going to come out of this.”

The commission looked at other ordinances, going line by line to figure out what Nesquehoning should outline, including setbacks, noise levels, fire protection, traffic, building height limits, water usage, permitting, battery backups and more.

The commission then chose to draft an ordinance with everything discussed and present it for a vote at 5 p.m. on Nov. 24. If the planning commission approves it, the ordinance would go before borough council for preliminary adoption during council’s December meeting, with final adoption of the ordinance in January.

The planning commission noted that they would like to get this ordinance on the books before formal plans come before them from Bitfarms so that they would have regulations in place since the Canadian-based company is fast-tracking the planning of the center, Nalesnik said.

“I think its imperative upon us to get an ordinance done fairly quickly,” he said.

If the borough doesn’t have an ordinance in place before the plans come before the board, Bitfarms would not be required to follow the ordinance once approved.