No Data Centers Without Accountability: Why Lancaster Must Act Now
The elected leadership in Lancaster City is failing us. Our zoning code is being stretched beyond its limits to accommodate a use that was never intended: industrial-scale data centers.
City officials are allowing these facilities under a wholesale trade and storage classification—yet that same category explicitly excludes manufacturing, assembling, processing, or treatment of materials. Let’s be clear, data centers do not just store information. They process immense volumes of it, consuming vast amounts of electricity and water, often with serious environmental consequences.
Lancaster already faces challenges maintaining a safe public water supply. Our own utility recently had to warn residents about unsafe levels of PFAS chemicals. The reason? Drought conditions made it impossible to dilute contaminants to acceptable levels. Imagine adding a thirsty, unregulated data center to that equation consuming our drinkable public water.
Legally, we can’t ban these uses. However, we can regulate the conditions for their use. We need to ensure that data centers operate under strict conditions, such as:
Powered by 100% renewable energy — not fossil fuels that poison our future.
Prohibited from using public drinking water — instead sourcing non-potable or stormwater runoff.
Free from toxic air pollution and disruptive noise — because our neighborhoods, parks, and wildlife deserve better.
As a member of the Lancaster City Planning Commission, I am actively working on legislation to regulate data centers as a distinct use—with the highest environmental and community standards. But I’m disappointed that nearly two years after adopting the 2023 Comprehensive Plan, our zoning code still hasn’t been updated to reflect the vision and environmental priorities we committed to as a city.
In the meantime, the City must acknowledge that data centers are not a permitted use as defined. If we allow this use to proceed without public input or environmental protections, we are failing the very people we claim to serve. If no one on Council is willing to pushback against this data center, maybe it’s because they’re too used to their self-driving cars… they’re asleep at the wheel while the public of Lancaster gets steamrolled.
This isn’t about stopping innovation. It’s about defending public health, protecting our natural resources, and ensuring the public sees real long-term benefit from this proposed data center. Not just placated with some faulty argument about how the property tax will be worth it. It’s never worth it.
Let’s build a Lancaster that works for everyone—not just the tech giants with bags of money.
— Tony Dastra
Green Party Mayoral and Council Candidate for the City of Lancaster
