Olyphant passes six-month pause on data center development

Olyphant Borough Council voted 4-3 Tuesday night, halting data center development for the next six months.

OLYPHANT, Pa. — Data center development will be on pause for six months in one Lackawanna County borough. 

At Olyphant Borough Council’s meeting Tuesday night, they were set to vote on a zoning amendment that would restrict data centers to roughly 1,000 acres of industrial-zoned land near the Triboro Industrial Park. 

Instead, council members voted 4-3 to place a six-month moratorium on that zoning code. 

Newswatch 16 reached out to the borough council’s president, Jimmy Baldan, who voted against the moratorium. He’s concerned the six-month pause will leave the borough vulnerable with no existing data center limitations in place.