East Hanover Township in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania has adopted Ordinance 2026-02, a zoning amendment that formally regulates data centers and battery energy storage systems as a special exception use within its industrial zoning district. The ordinance passed unanimously at the Board of Supervisors' monthly meeting on September 2, 2026, following a public hearing on August 18, 2026, and was first reported by LebTown. The move does not approve any specific project; it creates the regulatory framework any future data center developer must satisfy before breaking ground.
What was adopted
Ordinance 2026-02 does not name a developer, a megawatt figure, a building count, or an investment total. It establishes the conditions under which a data center may seek special exception approval in East Hanover's industrial zone.
Requirement
- •Minimum lot size
- •Equipment enclosure
- •Nuisance standards
- •Water documentation
- •Environmental review
- •Energy planning
- •Emergency preparedness
- •End of life
- •Operations disclosure
Detail
- ✓10 acres
- ✓Full enclosure or screening required
- ✓Noise and vibration compliance mandatory
- ✓Water-needs analysis and source documentation
- ✓Environmental impact assessment
- ✓Energy management plan
- ✓Emergency response plan
- ✓Decommissioning plan
- ✓Cooling method and on-site processing details
The township is simultaneously advancing a broader rewrite of its zoning ordinance, zoning map, and land development and subdivision ordinance, with data center regulation folded into that comprehensive update.
Who East Hanover Township is
East Hanover Township is a small municipality in Dauphin County, positioned along the I-81 and I-78 corridors roughly 10 to 20 miles from Harrisburg. Its industrial-zoned land sits in a region long associated with steel and metal fabrication, food processing, logistics, and state government facilities rather than technology infrastructure. The township has no established data center footprint, which is precisely why this ordinance is notable: it is building the legal architecture before any specific applicant arrives.
Why East Hanover, and why now
- •Pennsylvania's secondary markets are entering the conversation. Northern Virginia's power constraints are pushing developers to scout sites in neighboring states, and Pennsylvania's I-81 and I-78 corridors offer existing industrial land, established utility infrastructure, and lower land costs relative to primary markets.
- •Townships are getting ahead of ad-hoc applications. Rather than evaluate each data center proposal under general industrial standards, East Hanover is establishing specific, consistent rules that applicants and neighbors alike can rely on.
- •Comprehensive zoning reform created the opening. Because the township was already rewriting its full zoning and land development framework, adding data center language now was operationally efficient and signals that local planners are tracking the sector's growth trajectory.
- •The ordinance's documentation requirements reflect statewide regulatory momentum. Pennsylvania municipalities are increasingly requiring energy, water, and environmental disclosures from data center applicants, a pattern noted by regional zoning and commercial real estate professionals following the ordinance.
When a township with no existing data center presence adopts detailed, sector-specific zoning before any application is filed, it is a market signal worth watching for site selectors and staffing firms planning pipeline capacity.
What it means for the region's labor market
No construction start can be confirmed, and no project timeline is on the public record. That said, Ordinance 2026-02 has practical workforce implications that begin well before a shovel enters the ground. The Harrisburg-Hershey-Lebanon labor market brings unionized building trades with depth in highway construction, state facilities, and legacy manufacturing. Electricians, pipefitters, millwrights, and heavy equipment operators whose skills are directly transferable to data center construction and substation work are already in the regional pool. The challenge is that they are also competed for by ongoing state infrastructure projects and an active logistics and warehousing sector in Dauphin and neighboring counties.
The less obvious staffing pressure comes from the ordinance's own requirements. Energy management plans, environmental impact assessments, water-needs analyses, and decommissioning plans are not off-the-shelf documents. Any developer pursuing special exception approval in East Hanover will need to retain engineering, environmental consulting, and commissioning specialists who understand Pennsylvania's emerging data-center-specific regulatory framework and can translate those requirements into buildable site and MEP designs. That demand exists before a single building permit is filed, and the regional supply of those specialists is thin.
Contractors and staffing firms building a Pennsylvania pipeline should treat East Hanover as a pre-positioning opportunity rather than an active mobilization. We break down roles, pay ranges, and where the talent is in our guide to hiring data center talent in East Hanover Township, Pennsylvania. Sources: LebTown, which first reported the ordinance's adoption, with additional context from LinkedIn commentary by Garrett Pierson, Becky Gaston, and Brian Pulito.
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