Minutes - City Council

435 Hamilton Street

Allentown, Pa. 18101

Allentown

Minutes - Final

City Council

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

5:45 PM

Council Chambers

Special Meeting introducing Bill 52 - amendments to Zoning Code Section 660-38.H

DATA CENTER USE

Roll Call

Ms. Genesis Ortega stated that Ms. Affa is calling in on the phone. She

stated that we are all here.

7 -

Present:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

ORDINANCES FOR INTRODUCTION - To be referred to Allentown and Lehigh Valley

Planning Commissions, and the Community and Economic Development Committee -

public comment prior to referral.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that the purpose of this meeting is and want to start

by saying that he called the Special Meeting to Introduce Bill 52 which are

amendments created to strengthen Section 660 - 38.8 of the city's Zoning

Ordinance governing Data Center use. He asked Ms. Ortega can she

please read the Bill.

Ms. Genesis Ortega stated amending Part II General Legislation, Chapter

660 Zoning, Article 5 Uses, Table 660-4 Use Table and Section 660-38

Manufacturing & Industry Group, adding public notice requirements

and amending the use category Data Center Use.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated ok, thank you. He stated that he is going to take a

moment to at least talk about where they been, where we are and where we

are going. Just give an overview of the process. The administration

created the first Data Center regulations and Bill 20 was introduced at the

March 4th Council meeting and referred to the Allentown Planning

Commission and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. After those

extensive reviews, it came back to our CED which is our Community and

Economic Development Committee meeting on May 14th. During that

CED meeting, a few committee members, including himself voiced

opinions that the Bill should be strengthened, but they learned that

amending that Bill at that time would send it back to the starting process

and the city would go approximately another 90 days with no regulations in

place governing Data Centers. He stated that their first Council meeting to

act on the Bill would be June 4th. The Bill was tabled so Council could

conduct an Executive Session to obtain legal opinions and better

understand our options going forward. He stated that our second Council

meeting to act on the Bill was on June 17th. The Bill passed by a 4 to 2

vote to place Data Center regulations in the city Code. He stated during

that meeting, he agreed amendments were necessary and assured his

colleagues he will place an urgency on that process. He stated so here we

are. As long as we get the appropriate approvals, this is a timeline he is

looking at going forward. Bill 52 will be referred to our CED Committee

meeting which takes place immediately after this Special meeting in Chair

Gerlach's committee. There will be discussion on the amendments and an

opportunity for members of the public to participate via Courtesy of the

Floor. The reviews will be send to the Allentown Planning Commission

again and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission for reviews, but the

difference is that both have assured that a speedy process will happen to

maintain our timeline. The first legal ad will be posted on July 7th for a

Public Hearing to be held on August 5th. This is important since pending

Ordinance status will begin on that date, July 7th. He stated that means

from June 18th to July 7th is a total of 20 days will be between the passage

on Bill 20 and our amendments. He stated that a lot of them have been

discussing Noise over the last couple of months. He stated that will be

introduced at our July 15th Council meeting and referred to a committee on

July 22nd. The Plan is to bring that back in front of Council August 5th at

the same time. He stated so we will have the amendments for Bill 52 and

our Noise Amendments, both in front of us on August 5th. He stated that

they will have their Public Hearing and Council meeting and we will act on

Bill 52 and again the Noise Ordinance. Both will address Data Center

controls and regulations. He stated that he just wants to let everyone know

what the Plan is, the dates, what we are looking at, but we are targeting

August 5th as an opportunity to wrap the amendment process up and listen,

the one thing that they can be assure of, there will be more. This use

continues to evolve and continues to change in a very rapid pace. He

stated that their job and the administration's job who has been very

supportive of us with the amendments is continuing to work and find ways

to improve our regulations because as you know, they cannot exclude Data

Centers from the city of Allentown. It is just something that goes against

state law and the best they can do is to regulate them and control them to

protect our residents and the community so there will be constant changes

and constant amendments. He stated that this is the first batch and he is

really proud of the administration and his colleagues for getting this Batch

to the starting point so quickly since our last meeting so with that said, but

first any comments from the public before they move to their CED meeting.

It would be an opportunity there to do public comment so ok and what he is

going to do is refer this to Chair Gerlach's committee, CED which is

immediately after this meeting. He also going to refer this to the Allentown

Planning Commission and going to refer it to the Lehigh Valley Planning

Commission so they can get their reviews back in time by our August 5th

meeting. He stated so with that said, he is going to adjourn this meeting

and Council's next meeting is CED which begins in five minutes so thank

you everyone.