Upper Darby Councilman Kyle McIntyre on Zoning, Data Centers, and ALPRs

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Zoning basics: by right means no hearing for residents. Special exception isn’t a denial tool, it’s approval with conditions. Spot zoning is determined by surrounding properties, not lot size, which is why the Mozino tract doesn’t qualify.

You can’t ban a use, and you can’t de facto ban it through requirements. Every municipality that tried to fight smoke shops lost, Philadelphia included. So on data centers, McIntyre’s play is the strictest possible ordinance, passed now. Shapiro’s executive order means no state permit without local approval, but once a land development application is filed the code is frozen and the project is grandfathered.

Upper Darby’s real exposure isn’t a big complex, it’s micro data centers and home Bitcoin farms nobody has coded for. Western Delco, Chester, and Upper Providence are the vulnerable ones. Strategy note: argue electricity and stormwater, not water consumption.

On Flock, he’s drafting four provisions. Ordinance not resolution, specified location and data, stated purpose argued publicly, and a sunset. He calls it a three-part package with the ICE ordinance and a police oversight board, and says all three have to pass.