The Feb. 10 meeting of the Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission involved the Hamilton Dental Office and a zoning ordinance update discussion.

The Hamilton Dental Office would be located at 6048 Hamilton Blvd. The property would involve the conversion of an existing single family home.

The project was represented by Erich Hornung of Hornung Architects as well as Jason Schweyer of Keystone Consulting Engineers. The plan would involve adding a second floor addition in the rear of the building and parking in the rear of the property.

A special exception will be required to convert the home on the property based on the lot size only being a half acre.

There was a discussion about the public water and sewer on the property. Hornung questioned if a street wall would be a requirement on the property. Township Planner Nathan Jones clarified a street wall would still be required.

Planning Commissioner Jennifer Mack suggested the idea of the dental office sharing parking with First Commonwealth Credit Union.

This would reduce the amount of impervious land needed for parking and more space for native planting.

There was talk about replacing the existing sign on the property with a monument sign. There was also talk about garbage truck and emergency vehicle access.

The other item discussed during the meeting was the zoning ordinance update presentation and discussion. The discussion was focused on the data center use.

The data center use is currently allowed in the industrial, office, research, light industrial center zone and highway enterprise zones.

There was a discussion about design guidelines and having public water on the property. Jones said there would be a distance requirement of 1,000 feet from the property line regarding residences, schools and places of worship, along with life care facilities and day cares.

The planning commission voiced concerns about data centers using up a lot of the township’s water and electricity. There was a discussion of using some decibel measurements to keep data centers within certain noise requirements.

There was a discussion about requiring data centers coming into Lower Macungie Township to create new renewable energy projects or fund existing projects in the area that require assistance.

Township Engineer, Bryan McAdam said it would be difficult to enforce a decibel level requirement in the township.

The next Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission meeting will be held March 10. Usually the planning commission meets the second Tuesday of every month and occasionally there is a workshop meeting on the third Tuesday of the month. There will be no workshop in February.

Meetings begin 6 p.m. and currently all planning commission meetings will be held both in person and over Zoom with a video recording uploaded to the township’s YouTube channel after the fact.