A plan to convert a former psychiatric hospital near Philadelphia into a data center could be held up by new regulations.

Pennhurst Holdings LLC, which is the owner of Pennhurst State School and Hospital in East Vincent Township, intends to sell the land to a data center developer. The land parcel's zoning as 'Mixed Use Industrial' already permits data centers as an allowed use.

A potential site plan submitted to the Township authorities shows that the data center would be composed of five two-story buildings covering a total of 1.3 million sq ft (120,000 sqm). The plan also includes an ‘industrial building’ and a five-acre substation.

Those opposed to the data center plan have proposed an ordinance that would tighten regulations pertaining to any future data centers. This includes mandatory impact and feasibility studies and restrictions on lighting, height, sound, and power and water usage.

The ordinance has been revised several times, with a fourth revision submitted prior to the Township’s Planning Commission meeting on October 9.

The Township’s supervisors were supposed to decide whether to approve the ordinance on September 22, but fierce opposition led the supervisors to postpone the vote to a future date.

A petition against the ordinance on change.org has amassed more than 7,200 signatures as of Thursday. Concerns include the facility's potential electricity and water usage, noise pollution, increased traffic, and the aesthetic impact on the environment.

Pennhurst State School and Hospital was a psychiatric hospital for disabled individuals. It was closed in 1987 after the US Supreme Court ruled that Pennhurst had violated the constitutional rights of its residents.

Demand for data center services has pushed operators to look into emerging data center markets across the US, forcing some local authorities and communities unfamiliar with data centers to amend or supplement planning regulations that often do not include ‘data centers’ as a disparate land use case.

This can cause issues, as in the case of DeKalb County, Georgia: in September, county authorities dismissed a rezoning application for a data center proposal partially because, in the absence of a specific ‘data center’ use case, the applicant argued that data centers were most similar to a “utility structure for transmission of service.”

A similar situation emerged two weeks ago in Plymouth Township, which is around 17 miles (27km) east of East Vincent Township. In this case, the developer stated that data centers were “consistent with and have the same general character” as laboratories and warehouses, which are permitted uses under that township’s planning regulations.

East Vincent Township is northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s most populous city. The city is one of Pennsylvania’s data center hotspots, with the other in Pittsburgh.

The state has seen much interest from data center developers and investors as of late. In July, various firms pledged to invest $90 billion in the state’s digital infrastructure following a summit attended by President Donald Trump, and according to a report published by DC Byte in September of this year, the state’s data center market has grown exponentially, jumping from 231MW of total IT load in 2021 to around 7.8GW in 2025.