City Council, June 17, 2026
Denied: Municipal curative amendment for data centers (MCA), 2-4
What happened
On June 17, 2026, Allentown denied Municipal curative amendment for data centers (MCA) (2-4).
Allentown City Council passed Bill 20, a zoning ordinance amendment creating a special-exception designation for data centers in IG and IM districts with a 200-foot setback, on a 4-2 vote (Gerlach and Santos dissenting).
- Jurisdiction
- Allentown, PA
- Governing body
- Final authority
- Date
- June 17, 2026
- Decisions
- 16 zoning decisions
- Outcome
- Denied, 2-4
Free sample: decision 1 of 16
Contract with Urban Design Ventures LLC (R70)
Authorization for contract with Urban Design Ventures LLC in the estimated sum of $100,000 per contract year for consulting services to complete the city's 2026 CDBG-ESG Home Annual Action Plan and 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan. Seven proposals received; one-year contract with four additional one-year renewals. Passed 6-0.
The other decisions are listed below. Available full write-ups and conditions are included with Pro.
Allentown access in Pro, $39/month.
Key Decisions (16)
Contract with Urban Design Ventures LLC (R70)
Cooperative contracts over $40,000 (R71)
Bill 20 - Data center zoning ordinance amendment
Municipal curative amendment for data centers (MCA)
Bill 43 - Youth Climate Action Fund appropriation
Bill 44 - Council of Youth amendment
Bill 47 - PFAS settlement appropriation
Bill 48 - Trexler Fund appropriation
Consent agenda (R72, R75, R76, R77)
R74 - Paul Anthony appointment to ANIZDA
R78 - Safe Streets and Roads grant application (Emmaus Avenue)
R79 - Cancellation of July 1 council meeting
Bill 49 - Crosswalk flashing beacons (introduction)
Bill 50 - Position upgrades (introduction)
Bill 51 - Position downgrade (introduction)
R80 - Independent five-year financial analysis (introduction)
Full write-ups and conditions for all 16 decisions in Pro.
Zoning Changes (1)
Development Activity (1)
2401 West Emmaus Avenue data center
Commercial
Market Signals (4)
Commercial Demand
Multiple data center developers are actively pursuing Allentown sites; the…
Infrastructure
Residents and officials repeatedly warned that data centers will substantially…
Sentiment
Strong, organized public opposition to data centers (3,500-signature petition, multiple…
Infrastructure
The city is deferring certain capital projects pending an independent…
Who spoke
20 distinct speakers; 11 identified names.
All speaker roles: 1 Chair, 8 Public, 5 Councilmember, 4 Staff, 1 Clerk, 1 Witness.
Identified name roles: 1 Chair, 5 Councilmember, 1 Clerk, 3 Staff, 1 Witness.
Speaker sample: Frank Kane, Staff.
10 more identified names in Pro: 1 Chair, 5 Councilmember, 1 Clerk, 1 Witness, 2 Staff.
Full speaker roster in Pro
Meeting audio
Listen to the recording and select a timestamp with Pro.
Audio in Pro
Zoning terms (12)
170 recorded timestamps
- setback (22 timestamps)
- zoning (100 timestamps)
- environmental review (2 timestamps)
- public hearing (11 timestamps)
- approved (7 timestamps)
- land use (13 timestamps)
Decision moments (16)
Ask this meeting anything
The transcript is ready. Ask questions with answers cited to this meeting in Pro.
Meeting Q&A in Pro
Questions you can ask
- What conditions were attached to the decisions?
- What were the recorded votes?
- Who spoke, and what did they discuss?
Go deeper on this meeting
16 recorded decisions, 6 conditions across 1 decisions. Available full write-ups are included with Pro for Allentown.
Full write-up and conditions in Pro
Follow Allentown
Get the agenda when a meeting is posted, plus decision and analysis alerts.
We'll email you a 6-digit code, no password.