County commissioners learn about proposed S. Annville Twp. data center

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

Lebanon County Commissioners were briefed Wednesday afternoon about a planned $1.7 billion data center in South Annville Township, along with a room packed mostly with project protestors. 

Joe Eisenhauer, vice president of development for Inch & Co., requested a meeting with commissioners to review the plan as a courtesy to them. 

“We do not take any action on any item at a workshop session,” commission chairman Mike Kuhn said, noting it’s an opportunity for commissioners to gather information and ask detailed questions. “And we normally do not allow or invite public comment, but then we don’t normally have this kind of turnout from the public. So we will allow (it). … We certainly want people to have a voice to be able to express those opinions.”

Kuhn also noted that the county commissioners do not have a final vote in this matter, reiterating that the final decision rests with South Annville Township supervisors. 

Data center project overview

Eisenhauer revisited the talking points he highlighted when speaking with LebTown during an exclusive interview last Tuesday and again at two public meetings on consecutive evenings, one with South Annville Township Planning Commission members, many of whom were hearing the plan for the first time, and then again for South Annville Township supervisors.

Eisenhauer told commissioners that his company seeks a zoning map amendment and a zoning ordinance adoption with the township. 

1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC, a joint venture between Inch & Co. and Eastern Land & Resources Co., is petitioning South Annville Township for zoning changes as part of the project.

“We have engaged with the township to try to work on an ordinance that can be mutually beneficial because it has to be addressed somehow. We had a hearing last week and the township solicitor said it’s not as simple as just saying no data centers can be built in the township because that would be illegal,” Eisenhauer said. “So we’re trying to work with the township. We’ve crafted some language, offered it to them. They’ve responded to that language with some additional comments. They’re still engaged in that. So that’s step one.”

His company is petitioning the township to rezone commercially zoned land to industrial (I-1).

“Step two is a map amendment. So approximately the property split half and half industrial and commercial. There’s about 49 acres of the property that’s commercial that has to be rezoned for industrial (use),” Eisenhauer said. “The township during the initial ordinance preparation phase had said that they wanted this to live in their industrial zone. They didn’t want it to be in commercial because they really have the choice. So we are proposing a text amendment and then an ordinance map amendment to make the property commercial.”

There’s also a proposal to swap some ag land to industrial and a nearly equal amount from industrial to agricultural, for a net gain of about two agricultural acres.

Eisenhauer said the early design calls for five data centers totaling roughly 150,000 square feet, or 750,000 square feet for the project. The building walls will run 50 feet in the air, with an additional 10 feet of parapet walling for the project slated along U.S. Route 422 just west of Mount Pleasant Road. 

Eisenhauer said “‘one of the critical components to any development of this site is the realignment of Mount Pleasant Road.”

“So you’ll note that Mount Pleasant Road, which currently is a very rough intersection with 422 immediately adjacent to the creek, is proposed to be realigned to connect with the driveway location for the (adjacent) 911 Rapid Response Building,” he said. “That will, of course, trigger some work with PennDOT. We have yet to go through that exercise, but there’ll be a PennDOT traffic impact study that we have to conduct along with HOP (Highway Occupancy Permit) design work.” 

The HOP design work will “make sure that the intersection geometry works.”

“I don’t expect that this will trigger a signal because the truck traffic from this facility will be very minimal,” he added. 

Eisenhauer reviewed the three biggest resident concerns – electrical power, water use, and noise generation – along with project engineer Gary McKee. 

Eisenhauer said the project will use a closed loop chilled water system with air-cooled chillers and will emit between 40 and 50 decibels of noise. 

Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz asked numerous questions, including whether Eisenhauer would be willing to place solar panels on the roofs of the five buildings. He said yes, with the added comment that the solar panels would only generate enough electricity to power the lights within the facility and not the computing systems within the centers. 

Litz also enquired about the potential use of effluent water from the nearby Annville Sewer Treatment facility and wondered how it would be transferred across the highway. Eisenhauer discussed the possibility of using the treated water at the data center during two public sessions last week. 

McKee answered that the pipe location is unknown since the potential partnership talks are only in the preliminary stages.

Public comment

Only one of 10 individuals who spoke during the meeting supported the project. 

South Lebanon resident George Beard said he’s worked in data centers for about two decades, adding he would like to see this project become a reality. He noted it would provide employment opportunities for young people. 

Eisenhauer said earlier in the meeting that the center would employ between 50 and 100 people and provide career opportunities for those with Career & Technology level degrees. He said partnership discussions have occurred with nearby Annville-Cleona School District about a partnership agreement. 

All others voiced opposition during the session, which ran for about 1.5 hours. Several expressed concerns about the data centers being situated in the bull’s eye of a populated area.

Roberta Gerhart of South Annville Township said there are 3,200 residents within a one-mile radius of the site, and added she would like the developer to provide a fact sheet showing the residual effects on those who live in proximity to existing data centers.

Others questioned potential health and environmental hazards, including where the sound will go once the rest of the business park is developed. Eisenhauer had said sound would be channeled towards the already approved 3-million-square-foot DHL complex (only the first 1-million-square-foot building is complete today), with one attendee wondering if the sound would echo off new buildings that may be built within the industrial park.