South Annville Township takes first step toward potential data center development

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

South Annville Township supervisors on March 11 unanimously authorized township manager Jeanette Henning to forward the petition filed by 1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC to the township planning commission and the Lebanon County Planning Department for review and comment, with at least 45 days to do so.

This was the ask of Jonathan Andrews, a land use attorney with McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC, on behalf of the petitioner, 1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC, an entity he described as a joint venture between Inch & Co. and Eastern Land & Resources Corporation.

Andrews told supervisors that the purpose of the petition is to propose a potential data center development in the northern part of South Annville Township, where 1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC has four parcels of land totaling about 99 acres. The petition would amount to about 58 acres of new industrial (I-1) zoning.

The petition would permit data centers only in the I-1 district and only by conditional-use approval from supervisors. The petition would also regulate the development of data centers, regarding lot, building, landscaping, parking, loading, utilities, and more. The petition would also require data centers to gain land development plan approval from the planning department.

As for 1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC, after supervisors receive comments from the planning commission and planning department, they can consider them. If they want to make many changes, they can resend the petition to the planning commission and planning department for review and comment. If they want to move forward with the petition, they must hold an advertised public hearing to receive input from residents.

The soonest the public hearing could be scheduled is in May. If the proposed amendment is adopted, 1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC would have to go through the zoning approval process, which involves a conditional-use hearing, and the land development approval process.

At the March 11 meeting, supervisors unanimously authorized Henning to place the petition file by 1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC with all exhibits on the township’s website, which is in progress.

Supervisors also unanimously approved that the three property owners along Mount Pleasant Road be asked if they would like to change their zoning to R-2 as part of the petition, which would make it easier to add additions onto their residences in the future.

As part of the engineer’s report, supervisors unanimously voted to approve the lowest bid — Pro Seal Asphalt Maintenance’s bid in the amount of $4,410 — for the crack sealing projects in Old South Crossing and the Meadows at Bachman Run.

During public comment, Ed Fogelsanger, a Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority board member, thanked supervisors for providing an allotment of tires that South Annville Township residents can drop off at the Lebanon Expo Center for free. Pre-registration will be held on Monday, April 13, and tire collection will be on Wednesday, April 29.

Also, during public comment, Ronice Nolt, director of the Annville Free Library, thanked supervisors for their continued support and provided them with an update.

Nolt reported that 47% of South Annville Township’s residents have library cards with the Lebanon County Library System. She noted that Annville Free Library’s patron count, circulation numbers, program offerings, and program participants were up in 2025.

Nolt said the Annville library is hiring a part-time youth room coordinator and a part-time library circulation assistant. She also said the library is accepting donations of books, games, and puzzles for the Big Book Sale on April 15-17.

She also mentioned that the Library of Things is coming soon to the Annville Free Library. Among the collection of non-book and DVD items will be museum passes — with the first available being for Hershey Gardens and the Hershey Story Museum.

In addition, Nolt noted that the library’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the Book It! 5K Fun Run/Walk, is scheduled for Saturday, June 13, and registration is now open. Nolt also said the library’s annual meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 20, during which it will unveil expansion project plaques and provide a more comprehensive update.

In other news, supervisors unanimously moved to:

• Approve the secretary’s and treasurer’s reports.
• Approve the police report, which included 161 incidents for township and 46 for regional and a total of 304 hours for township and 43 for regional.
• Approve the payment of the township’s bills.

During the updates portion of the meeting, Henning informed supervisors that Ryan Flynn, the new president of the Annville-Cleona Fire Department, emailed the township a letter of introduction. In the letter, Flynn told supervisors that he lives in South Annville.

South Annville Township supervisors meet at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings are held in the township building at 1042 Horseshoe Pike, which features an ADA-accessible ramp and an on-site parking lot with ADA-accessible spaces, and are open to the public. Next month’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 8.