Norristown Municipal Council unanimously adopted a 14-category data center ordinance on Tuesday, Aug. 18, creating the first local data center law in the immediate region and setting new requirements for any developer eyeing the borough's 41-acre heavy industrial district along the Plymouth Township border.

The vote comes just before Plymouth Township's own contested zoning hearings resume on the MLP Ventures proposal to convert the former Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill at 900 Conshohocken Road into a nearly 2-million-square-foot data center. That hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Karen B. Weiss Meeting Room inside the Plymouth Township Municipal Building, 700 Belvoir Road.

Councilman David McMahon and Councilwoman Jasmine Griffen spearheaded the Norristown ordinance, which requires applicants to fund any public utility infrastructure upgrades their project demands, submit decommissioning plans and a plume study, and distinguish between backup and primary energy generation. Backup power generation is classified as an accessory use.

"I think it's a good standard for other towns to be a little bit tougher than what the county recommended," McMahon said at the Tuesday, Aug. 18, meeting, according to the Times Herald.

Norristown solicitor Patrick Hitchens told council that Pennsylvania law prohibits municipalities from banning a legal land use or imposing a moratorium, so the ordinance creates a framework rather than a prohibition. Vincent Poppa, assistant director of the Norristown Planning and Municipal Development Department, said the ordinance does not approve any specific project.

The ordinance was first advertised in May, tabled in late July after extensive comments from both the Norristown and Montgomery County planning commissions, then revised and passed.

Norristown had sought party status in Plymouth Township's data center zoning case. It was denied. Griffen referenced that effort at the Aug. 18 meeting, saying she was glad the borough took the initiative so developers "understand if you want to come here, you have to abide by what we're requesting of you."

Plymouth hearing moves to smaller venue

The Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board moved the Sept. 17 evidentiary hearing to the municipal building's meeting room. A larger venue is expected for the public comment portion, which will be livestreamed at the Greater Plymouth Community Center, 2910 Jolly Road, Plymouth Meeting.

Approximately 9,000 people live within a square mile of the proposed site, according to Main Line Media News.

Plymouth Township Council formally voted to oppose the application in late July. Council Chairwoman Lynne Viscio said at the July 27 meeting that the township would continue to oppose the special exception application for as long as it "blatantly disregards the health, welfare and safety of the community," as we reported on the township's data center opposition.

MLP Ventures CEO Brian O'Neill's first application was withdrawn in November 2025 after planning and zoning officials issued denials. His second application, filed this spring, proposes renovating 10 steel mill buildings and adding standby generators and gas turbines. O'Neill also sought to build a 4.6-million-square-foot data center cluster in Upper Merion Township; supervisors there unanimously denied those applications, and O'Neill appealed and filed suit.

Whitemarsh hearing set for Sept. 10

Whitemarsh Township's Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing Thursday, Sept. 10, on its own proposed data center ordinance, developed using Montgomery County Planning Commission recommendations and a model ordinance from PennFuture. Whitemarsh has not received any data center application and describes the measure as proactive, according to the township.

Plymouth Township's next zoning hearing is Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at 700 Belvoir Road. Residents who wish to provide public comment should watch for venue details on the township's website.