Posted by John Lavelle on Monday, September 29, 2025
Across Pennsylvania, municipalities are constantly facing new waves of land use pressures, ones that didn’t exist a decade ago but are now reshaping communities and economies. From data centers to solar farms, these emerging uses bring opportunity, complexity, and risk. If your zoning ordinances aren’t keeping pace, your municipality could lose control over where and how these developments take root.
Three high-impact land uses are leading the charge:
- Data Centers: High-tech hubs with big tax revenue potential but also large infrastructure demands particularly with regard to water and electricity usage.
- Short-Term Rentals: Brings the potential to boost investment within the existing housing stock and tourism segments of a community but can cause neighborhood tensions, reduce housing affordability, and create safety concerns.
- Solar Energy Developments: A pathway to diversify the energy portfolio of a region but frequently ideal locations coincide with environmentally sensitive areas and prime agricultural lands.
What’s at stake:
- Allowing investors to develop innovative uses within a community responsibly vs. unplanned development which causes significant strain on existing infrastructure
- Encouraging economic growth through enhancements within the travel and tourism sectors vs. allowing for community disruption and nuisance through overcrowded short-term rentals with absent or unknown owners
- Maintaining local control through zoning to preserve community character and protect constituents vs. developer-driven siting if a use isn’t provided for within your ordinance
If your ordinances don’t address these uses proactively, developers may gain the upper hand—leaving your community with little say in how these projects unfold. The result? Missed revenue, resident pushback, and long-term planning headaches. The pace of change isn’t slowing. Municipalities that anticipate new uses and trends, rather than react to them, will be best positioned to strike a balance between capturing economic benefits and preserving quality of life.
We specialize in helping municipalities stay ahead of the curve in many capacities, including working with local governments to:
- Modernize zoning ordinances before applications arrive.
- Align with state and federal regulations to avoid legal pitfalls.
- Build flexibility into zoning language to adapt with evolving technologies and markets.
Let’s make sure your community is ready.
John Lavelle, AICP, CFM
municipal planner
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Categories: Municipal Infrastructure
Tagged: Municipal Engineering | Regulations