DICKSON CITY — Borough council adopted regulations for data centers Thursday night, potentially fending off a data center campus around Bell Mountain or above Cold Spring Road, despite pushback from community members.
Dickson City’s third public hearing on a zoning ordinance to address data centers concluded with a unanimous vote from council to approve legislation that defines, regulates and restricts data centers and accessory uses as special exceptions in the town’s light manufacturing district, limiting the server-filled facilities to Enterprise Street near Eagle Lane and undeveloped land southeast of Railroad Street. By adopting the ordinance, Dickson City could effectively shut down proposals from a local data center developer looking to build either three data centers above Cold Spring Road or a 403-acre campus higher up around Bell Mountain, though the fight will now likely play out in a courtroom.
“What we’ve come up with here is an ordinance that we think is practical and defensible,” Borough Planner Thomas Shepstone said. “It may not please some of the developers, but it’s something we feel is going to accomplish the objectives of the borough council, which are to protect the interests of the community.”
Prior to council’s vote, just over two dozen Lackawanna County residents, including Democratic county Commissioner Bill Gaughan and county Controller Gary DiBileo, testified against data centers, cautioning borough officials about their impacts, including large water and electricity demands, noise and emissions from backup diesel generators. Some residents urged council not to adopt the ordinance, pleading with officials not to allow data centers, or to pass a moratorium temporarily halting their development to give the town more time.
Dickson City residents pick up “No Date Center” signs dropped off by Lackawanna County Controller Gary DiBileo during a public hearing on a data center ordinance at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Throughout the meeting, Dickson City Solicitor Bill Jones stressed to the crowd of 150-plus filling the Dickson City Civic Center that the borough has to provide a use for data centers, that the ordinance does not approve any data center projects, that Dickson City has not received any proposals for data centers in the light manufacturing district where they are now special exceptions, and that Pennsylvania doesn’t allow local communities to pass moratoriums. Most notably, though, Jones said that if council did not adopt the ordinance, new data center applications would not be bound by the restrictions keeping them in the light manufacturing district, and the borough would lose out on its pending ordinance doctrine status. The pending ordinance doctrine requires any data centers proposed after Dickson City initiated the zoning amendment process in November to adhere to the now-passed legislation. If council voted down the ordinance, those restrictions would no longer apply.
At least 150 residents attended a public hearing on data center legislation in Dickson City at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Data center proposals from Dickson City Development LLC loomed over Thursday’s meeting. The data center venture — a firm linked to Kriger Construction Inc. President Jim Marzolino — presented two proposals to Dickson City officials during a Jan. 21 public hearing on the data center ordinance. Developer attorneys Raymond Rinaldi and Michael Mey argued last month that Dickson City already permitted data centers in its highway commercial zoning districts because of language allowing “data processing and record storage,” which they contended allows them to develop three data centers above the site of a proposed Wawa on the mountain above Cold Spring Road. Alternatively, the developer also submitted a zoning ordinance to the borough requesting a 403-acre data center overlay district that would have permitted a data center campus around Bell Mountain.
An expert witness on data centers for the developer also argued last month that the light manufacturing zone does not work for data centers, asserting there are inadequate power lines, residences surrounding the zone and only about 7 or 8 acres available due to a flood zone.
Jones referenced those proposals Thursday while maintaining that the manufacturing district is appropriate for data centers.
“It may not be the 400 acres that’s under their plan, but it provides for something,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is provide some standards for manufacturing zones that allows for manufacturing, whether that’s using heavy diesel generators, doing whatever else they’re doing.”
If the data center attorneys disagree with the light manufacturing designation, “They will file an appropriate form, whether that’s an administrative agency, the zoning board or the Court of Common Pleas. They may disagree if there was an affirmative vote tonight,” Jones said. “If there’s a negative vote, I think they’d be just as pleased with that.”
No one from Dickson City Development testified Thursday, and Mey and Rinaldi declined to comment following council’s vote.
‘Not ordinary development’
Gaughan and DiBileo returned to the Midvalley on Thursday to criticize data center developments after providing similar remarks during a Jan. 28 public hearing in Archbald on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus. State Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, and state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., also attended Thursday’s hearing, though they did not speak.
(Left to right) State Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore; Flynn’s district director Brian Doughton; and state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., attend a public hearing on data center legislation at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
DiBileo contrasted the promise of a “golden ticket to the future” by data center developers with their potential impacts.
“Who would think that high-tech computer warehouses would be anything besides a boom for us here in Northeastern Pennsylvania?” the county controller said. “Little did we know the new AI innovation entrepreneurs were looking to invade us for giant plots of land to plop down giant water-sucking, energy-draining, noise-making, environmentally damaging monstrosities that could harm anyone or anything in their shadows in order to cool down computer chips to make them more billions.”
Lackawanna County Controller Gary DiBileo points to where he left a box full of “No Data Centers” signs during the public hearing on a zoning ordinance to regulate data centers in Dickson City at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
As the president of the Keyser Valley Neighborhood Association in Scranton, DiBileo pointed to his community’s opposition to a proposed data center campus in Ransom Twp. just above Keyser Valley on Newton Road.
“We are opposing a data center right in Ransom Twp. bordering my neighborhood, but any data center in Lackawanna County is in the backyard of all of us,” he said.
Both Gaughan and DiBileo called for Pennsylvania to institute a two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers. Gaughan said he is sending a formal letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro in the coming days to make that request.
The commissioner empathized with borough officials and the pressure they face as they consider “something that will shape this borough and our county for generations.”
“Hundreds and hundreds of residents from Archbald, Jessup, Eynon, Peckville, Blakely, Olyphant, Covington and beyond filled auditoriums, lined hallways and stood shoulder to shoulder because they feel deep in their heart that something profound is at stake, and it is,” Gaughan said. “This is not ordinary development. This is not a warehouse. This is not a strip mall. This is not a small industrial park.”
Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan speaks during the public hearing on a zoning ordinance to regulate data centers in Dickson City at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
There are dozens and dozens of data centers proposed across thousands of acres of land, he said.
“We are told, and I have been told as a commissioner, that this is progress, but the question is progress for whom and at what cost?” Gaughan said. “I don’t want to look back in 10 years and realize that we became the Silicon Valley of Pennsylvania, not because we built innovation, but because we turned every available acre into a windowless box that hums 24/7 and sends most of its profits somewhere else.”
‘Taken advantage of’
Every speaker who addressed council Thursday prior to the vote — 25 speakers in total including Gaughan and DiBileo — either raised concerns about data centers or outright opposed them.
Planning Commission member Wendy Jones, who lives on Bell Mountain, said that if council did not adopt the ordinance, Dickson City would find itself in a similar position to Archbald. In October, Archbald council opted not to vote on a data center zoning ordinance amid substantial community pushback, only to adopt the same legislation the following month. In the interim, Archbald received additional data center proposals, she said.
“The proposed ordinance before council tonight is similar to an insurance policy, like auto or life. You all buy it, and you hope that you don’t need it, but if something does occur, you have some remedy for damages,” she said, noting the borough can amend the ordinance in the future. “So let’s tell the developers of the proposed data centers, who don’t live in Dickson City, what they are allowed to do and not allowed to do in our borough by adopting this proposed ordinance.”
Gerard Sosnowski testified his family has lived in Dickson City for generations, and he has lived in the borough for nearly 32 years. He recalled childhood memories building forts in snow piles and riding bikes with his friends through the town. As he raises his own family in the borough, Sosnowski pointed to a lack of information about data center proposals and future uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence, asking, “Are we willing to risk the future of our community for maybes?”
“In Dickson City’s history, how many times has our community been taken advantage of by industrial means?” he said. “I ask the council: Take into consideration the future of our community, our health, our safety and our financial well-being.”
Dickson City resident Gerard Sosnowski asks, “Are we willing to risk the future of our community for maybes?” during a public hearing on data center legislation at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
The youngest speaker of the night, Carter Szescila, 10, feared how data centers could impact other children.
Dickson City resident Carter Szescila, 10, worried how data centers could impact other children during a public hearing at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
“I’m worried about how loud data centers can be, because I am worried about how it can affect learning and teaching, especially for the kids with special needs that do not like loud noises,” Carter said. “This will not only affect those kids that I go to school with, but it will also affect other kids and families.”
Bell Mountain resident Timothy Pfleiderer express his concern about potential noise during the public hearing on a zoning ordinance to regulate data centers in Dickson City at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Tina Larioni states her concerns about about data centers’ environmental impacts during the public hearing on a zoning ordinance to regulate data centers in Dickson City at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Bell Mountain resident Timothy Pfleiderer express his concern about potential noise during the public hearing on a zoning ordinance to regulate data centers in Dickson City at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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‘On the same side’
Shortly before casting their votes, council Vice President Robert Hall and council President Jeff Kovaleski explained their rationales.
Council members live in Dickson City, so they are also affected, Hall said, explaining his family has lived in the borough for generations.
“We all are on the same side,” Hall said. “There’s been a lot a lot of heart-wrenching conversations, and it is about the residents. I look around this room tonight, I see people I know a long time. I have family in this room here tonight, and the decisions we’re making are about our families.”
Kovaleski agreed, describing the complexities of the zoning process and telling residents he was making what he felt was the best decision for the community.
“You may not agree. Some of my own family may not agree. Some of my own friends may not agree, but I know when I go home tonight that that decision that I made, I know I made it in the best decision for this community,” Kovaleski said.
Dickson City Council President Jeffrey Kovaleski speaks during the public hearing on a zoning ordinance to regulate data centers in Dickson City at the Dickson City Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Mayor Bob MacCallum concluded official remarks by addressing moratoriums.
“This is all happening on the state level, and it goes all the way up to the national level, so take that passion, take it to your state legislators, take it to the … national leadership,” MacCallum said, offering support from himself and council. “Take that passion, and if that’s a possibility, take it up the ladder and take it to them.”
About the ordinance
By making data centers special exceptions in light manufacturing zones, Dickson City requires all future data center proposals to go before the borough’s zoning hearing board, which will hold a quasi-judicial proceeding during a public hearing to listen to testimony from developers and residents before deciding to approve or deny a project.
The special exception designation is much like the conditional use designation more commonly used to regulate data centers in Lackawanna County, with the key difference being what governing body actually votes on proposals. Conditional uses go before councils and township supervisors, whereas special exceptions are through zoning hearing boards.
To receive approval from the Dickson City Zoning Hearing Board, data center developers must adhere to the standards and definitions in the five-page ordinance, including:
• Sites must be a minimum of 5 acres.
• To provide screening and reduce noise levels, all equipment for cooling, ventilation or otherwise operating the facility, including generators or other power supply equipment, must be fully enclosed, except when the zoning officer determines it isn’t mechanically feasible.
• Data centers can be up to four stories tall, but they can’t exceed 60 feet.
• All data centers must provide evidence of coordination of fire protection with the local Fire Department while meeting all reasonable requests for training, equipment and information.
• All applications must provide a plan for decommissioning any energy supply systems at the end of their useful life and post financial security to guarantee their removal.
• Data centers must maintain a 200-foot setback from residential structures or other noise-sensitive uses.