The Borough Council of New Morgan has unanimously approved a pair of contentious zoning measures enabling the future development of data centers along the Route 10 corridor. The municipal decision came despite widespread pushback from a crowded assembly of local and regional residents who voiced serious concerns regarding environmental degradation, water security, and infrastructure strain across southern Berks County.
Under the newly adopted measures, borough officials voted to rezone a designated parcel at the intersection of Route 10 and Furnace Road from R-Residential to I-Industrial. Positioned directly opposite the entrance to Historic Joanna Furnace, the tract will now fall under a specialized data center overlay district designed to establish regulatory standards for prospective technology and computing facilities.
The Monday public hearings drew an overwhelming turnout of more than 200 people to New Morgan Borough Hall at 200 Bethlehem Drive. The crowd easily eclipsed the entire population of the small municipality, which recorded just 54 residents in the 2020 federal census. With the official meeting room outfitted with only about a dozen chairs for the public, attendees rapidly filled the interior space, packed into hallways and the lobby, and spilled outward through the front entrance into the parking lot. Several frustrated attendees complained of being unable to clearly hear the proceedings, questioning why borough leaders had not relocated the legislative session to a larger facility capable of accommodating the public interest.
The overwhelming majority of those in attendance traveled from neighboring municipalities, primarily Robeson and Caernarvon townships. Throughout two separate hearings, speakers argued that the potential environmental and infrastructure consequences of hosting large-scale industrial data centers would not be confined within the borders of the tiny borough.
Borough Solicitor Nicole Plank, who presided over the individual legislative hearings for the zoning map amendment and the regulatory ordinance, repeatedly emphasized that New Morgan has not received any formal development applications for a data center. Plank maintained that council members were acting proactively by enacting comprehensive zoning standards before any developer files plans. According to the solicitor, the approved ordinance incorporates specific rules to regulate water consumption, electrical demands, noise generation, property setbacks, and environmental buffering.
Borough Council President Tressie Marroon-Bailey supported the initiative, noting that establishing the overlay district grants municipal leaders critical authority over where data centers can locate while setting enforceable operational guidelines. Local officials also cited the opportunity to bolster and expand the borough’s commercial tax base as a primary motivation behind the zoning shift.
Despite these municipal assurances, public testimony remained overwhelmingly critical. Community members voiced deep apprehension over the potential depletion of private water wells, degradation of regional groundwater and streams, large-scale deforestation, increased stormwater runoff, and displacement of local wildlife. Residents also warned of heavy traffic, air and light pollution, soaring electricity expenses for grid customers, continuous industrial noise, and the permanent loss of southern Berks County’s rural identity.
Agricultural stakeholders in adjacent communities voiced some of the most urgent warnings during the public comment period. Ed Weaver, president of Weaver’s Orchard in neighboring Robeson Township, testified that water availability is the single greatest threat posed by high-demand industrial facilities. Weaver explained that his family’s commercial agricultural operations rely heavily on five irrigation wells, noting that regional groundwater tables have already experienced significant declines over several decades.
Weaver recounted that several of the orchard's irrigation wells originally flowed as artesian wells when first drilled, but water levels have since dropped between 30 and 40 feet. Noting that his family-owned orchard is currently transitioning between its third and fourth generations of ownership, Weaver urged council members to protect long-standing local enterprises from industrial policies that could jeopardize generational businesses and regional aquifers.
Environmental advocates similarly challenged the wisdom of placing intensive data processing facilities near delicate ecological resources. Anne-Marie McMahon, president of the Hay Creek Watershed Association, focused her remarks on the proposed overlay district’s immediate proximity to the headwaters of Hay Creek. The surrounding 22-square-mile watershed features high-quality cold-water streams, including designated exceptional-value aquatic segments that require stringent ecological safeguards.
McMahon warned that the limited environmental protections contained within the borough's ordinance could cause lasting harm to both local water quality and overall regional supply. On behalf of the association, she recommended that data center developments be restricted exclusively to previously developed commercial or industrial brownfield sites rather than clearing pristine, wooded acreage. McMahon further urged the borough to mandate continuous groundwater monitoring and require developers to utilize public water infrastructure or reclaimed and recycled water for all cooling operations.
Daniel Nugent of Robeson Township presented an analysis comparing New Morgan’s ordinance against planning standards published by the Berks County Planning Commission and adjacent municipal planning bodies. Clarifying that his remarks did not represent a blanket rejection of all data center development, Nugent argued that the borough's language fails to sufficiently regulate low-frequency noise emissions, renewable energy usage, closed-loop recycled water cooling, heat dissipation, and adequate buffer setbacks from neighboring properties.
Nugent urged the borough council to pause and incorporate additional feedback from surrounding communities before codifying the rules, arguing that regional residents deserve a meaningful voice in policies that will generate cross-border impacts.
State Representative Mark Gillen also addressed the council, urging extreme caution while raising critical questions regarding power grid reliability, regional water capacity, and governmental transparency. Gillen focused substantial attention on public safety and emergency preparedness, sharing findings from his inquiries with Pennsylvania’s state fire commissioner.
According to Gillen, the state fire commissioner confirmed that Pennsylvania has not yet developed or distributed standardized operational protocols for local volunteer and municipal fire departments tasked with combating industrial data center fires. Gillen warned council members that the commonwealth remains largely unprepared to handle major public safety or health emergencies arising from potential industrial disasters at such specialized facilities.
Despite the extensive testimony from residents, agricultural leaders, environmental advocates, and state officials, New Morgan Borough Council moved forward with unanimous roll-call votes to adopt the zoning map amendment and enact the regulatory overlay ordinance at the conclusion of each respective hearing.
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