The developer proposing the Project Scott campus of 18 data centers in Archbald on Friday issued a second public notice claiming a “deemed approval” of the project, thus now setting a 30-day deadline for appeals of this claim to get filed in Lackawanna County Court.
Archbald I LLC of Dallas, Texas, on April 24 published in The Times-Tribune the first public notice, titled “Deemed Decision,” claiming an automatic approval of the proposed campus took effect March 31 because the Archbald Borough Council had missed a deadline to complete a required hearing on the conditional-use application.
The identical public notices published a week apart each state any legal challenge to the company’s claim of a deemed approval must be filed within 30 days of the second publication of the public notice of the deemed decision.
Meanwhile, the firm also filed on April 24 in Lackawanna County Court a land-use appeal lawsuit against the borough aimed at overturning council’s March 27 vote rejecting the project. The lawsuit’s allegations include the borough violated the company’s due process rights by not completing a required hearing on time and acted in bad faith, and certain members of borough leadership — not identified by name in the lawsuit — demonstrated a predetermined opposition to the application.
The land at issue is composed of 14 parcels on about 400 acres along Eynon Jermyn Road and Business Route 6, and bordering Staback Park.
Archbald has become a hotbed in Lackawanna County for data center proposals and opposition. Archbald I LLC’s claim of deemed approval on procedural deficiencies and the lawsuit are the latest developments regarding Project Scott, which is one of many data-center proposals that have arisen in Archbald and elsewhere in Lackawanna County and Northeast Pennsylvania.