Mifflinburg planning commission agenda includes data center discussion and zoning changes

Mifflinburg’s planning commission will weigh one of the borough’s most consequential land-use questions Tuesday: where a data center should go, and where it should not. The discussion lands alongside zoning map revisions and a short-term rental ordinance, putting development pressure, neighborhood change and future business activity squarely on the table for a borough that is small, historic and tightly built.

The meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, in the Borough Office at 120 North Third Street. The agenda was posted June 11 and also includes approval of May minutes, public comment, communications and updates, and a zoning report from Garrett Enders. Submitted plans listed for review are a lot addition for Scott Boyer and the Legacy Paving Project.

The most immediate item for residents may be the data center discussion. The agenda language, “Data Center in Mifflinburg - Where Should it be and Where Not,” signals that the borough is beginning to confront not just a single project, but the broader zoning and siting questions that come with an energy- and land-intensive use. For landowners, nearby neighbors and businesses, that kind of conversation can shape everything from access and parking to noise, setbacks and how much of the borough’s available land remains open to other uses.

The short-term rental ordinance is another item with direct local impact. Planning commission members are set to consider whether to send it to council, which means the borough is still working through rules that could affect property owners, visitors and the character of residential streets. The commission will also consider suggested zoning map revisions, a sign that Mifflinburg is looking closely at where different uses should be allowed as growth pressure and reuse questions continue to build.

Mifflinburg Borough says the community has about 3,600 residents and sits in the Susquehanna River Valley on Route 45 between State College and Lewisburg. In a place shaped by historic architecture, a municipal electric system, tourism and local business, even technical planning decisions can have visible consequences. The borough points to Mifflinburg Community Park, the trail to Lewisburg, the Buggy Museum, Christkindl Market and Oktoberfest as part of the local landscape, reminders that new development has to fit around both everyday traffic and the places that draw people into town.

That is why the advance posting matters. By laying out the agenda before the meeting, the borough gave residents time to see what was coming, track the discussion and judge how proposed zoning changes could affect the streets, properties and commercial corridors that define Mifflinburg’s next phase of growth.