Special Meeting Introducing Bill 52 for Data Center Zoning Amendments - June 24, 2026
Special Meeting Introducing Bill 52 for Data Center Zoning Amendments
A special meeting of the Allentown City Council was held on June 24, 2026, at 5:45 PM in Council Chambers to introduce Bill 52, which proposes amendments to strengthen the city's zoning regulations governing data center use (Section 660-38.H). All seven council members were present. No public comments were taken; the meeting was adjourned at 5:51 PM to proceed to the Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee meeting.
Discussion Items
- Councilmember Santo Napoli outlined the background: the administration's initial data center regulations (Bill 20) were introduced on March 4, 2026, reviewed by the Allentown Planning Commission and Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, and discussed at the CED Committee on May 14, 2026. During that meeting, some members called for stronger provisions, but amending Bill 20 would have reset the process, delaying regulations by approximately 90 days. Bill 20 was tabled on June 4 for an executive session and passed on June 17, 2026, by a 4–2 vote.
- Napoli stated that Bill 52 is the first batch of amendments to strengthen the code, developed quickly with support from the administration. He emphasized that data centers cannot be excluded from Allentown under state law, so the city must regulate them to protect residents.
- Napoli provided a timeline: Bill 52 would be referred immediately to the CED Committee (meeting after this special meeting), the Allentown Planning Commission, and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. Both planning commissions have assured a speedy review. The first legal ad is scheduled for July 7, 2026, triggering pending ordinance status, and a public hearing is set for August 5, 2026.
- Napoli also noted that separate noise ordinance amendments, which have been discussed for months, will be introduced at the July 15, 2026, council meeting and referred to a committee on July 22, 2026. The plan is to bring both Bill 52 and the noise amendments before council on August 5, 2026, for public hearing and action.
Key Outcomes
- Referrals: Bill 52 was referred to the CED Committee, the Allentown Planning Commission, and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission for review and recommendations.
- Public hearing date: Scheduled for August 5, 2026, at the regular council meeting.
- Noise ordinance: A separate noise amendment addressing data center controls will be introduced on July 15, 2026, with a target of concurrent action on August 5, 2026.
- Next immediate step: The CED Committee meeting began five minutes after adjournment of the special meeting, where further discussion and public comment would occur.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, uh we're gonna we're gonna start uh our special meeting. Uh we'll start with a roll call, please. Miss Girlock here, Miss Santos here, uh Mr. Bender. Present. Ms. Moda, here, Mr. Natalie. Here, Mr. Pongo? Here and Miss Affa is calling in right on the phone. All right, Miss Sappha, we're starting the meeting. We're all here. Okay, great. Um so the purpose of this meeting, uh, was want to start by saying I called the special meeting to introduce Bill 52, which are amendments created to strengthen section 660-38 point H of the city zoning ordinance governing data center use. Can you please read the bill? Amending part two general legislation, chapter 660 zoning, article five uses, table 660-4, use table, and section 660-38 manufacturing and industry group, adding public notice requirements and amending the use category data center use. Okay, thank you. Um I'm gonna take a moment to at least um talk about where we've been, uh where we are and where we're going. Uh just give an overview of the process. So the administration created bill uh the first data center regulations, and bill 20 was introduced at the March 4th council uh 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 economic development committee meeting on May 14th. During that CED meeting, a few committee members, including myself, voiced opinions that the bill should be strengthened. But we learned that amending the 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. Our first council meeting to act on the bill was June 4th. The bill was tabled so council could conduct an executive session to obtain legal opinions and better understand our options going forward. Our second council meeting to act on the bill was on June 17th. The bill passed by a four to two vote to place the data center regulations in the city code. During that meeting, I agreed amendments were necessary and assured my colleagues I would place an urgency on that process. So here we are. As long as we get the appropriate approvals, this is the timeline I'm looking at going forward. Bill 52 will be referred to our CED committee meeting, which takes place immediately after this special meeting. It's Chair Girls 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 sent to Allentown Planning Commission again and Leah Valley Planning Commission for reviews, but the difference is 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 would begin on that date, July 7th. That means from June, June 18th to July 7th, a total of 20 to 20 days will be between the passage of Bill 20 and our amendments. A lot of us have been discussing noise over the last uh couple months. That will be introduced at our July 15th council meeting and we're referred to a committee on July 22nd. The plan is to bring that back in front of council August 5th, the same time. So we will have the amendments for um Bill 52 and our noise amendments uh both in front of us on August 5th. Uh we'll have our 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. Um just want to let everyone know what the plan is, the dates, what we're looking at, but we are targeting August 5th as uh an opportunity to uh to wrap this amendment process up. And listen, the one thing that we I can be assured of, there will be more. Um this this this use continues to evolve, it continues to move to change, you know, in a very rapid pace. Our job is and the administration's job, who's been very supportive of us with the amendments, is continuing to work and find ways to improve our regulations because as you know, we cannot exclude data centers from the city of Allentown. And I'm I'm it's just something that goes against state law, and uh the best we can do is we can regulate them and control them to protect our residents in the community. So um there will be constant changes in the constant amendments.
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