The Jessup Zoning Hearing Board denied plans for a data center campus on Breaker Street.
The board unanimously rejected West Conshohocken-based Breaker Street Associates LLC’s appeal for zoning relief for a proposal to build data centers and associated infrastructure along Breaker Street near Hill Street, according to a Jan. 2 written decision from the board. Chairman Jeff Smith and board members Angela Muchal, Rella Scassellati, Barbara Bzdick and Andrew Tomaskevich heard the request and voted against it Dec. 23, according to the decision, which was signed by Smith and board Solicitor Mario J. Hanyon.
Breaker Street Associates LLC, One Tower Bridge, 100 Front St., Suite 560, West Conshohocken, initially applied June 10 for nearly 1.1 million square feet of data centers across 131 acres on the south side of Breaker Street between Hill Street and the Casey Highway. Plans at the time showed six 130-foot-tall data centers. The campus would use 600 megawatts of power, with a switchyard/substation falling into residentially zoned land north of Breaker Street.
Catalyst Commercial Development LLC, the firm behind Breaker Street Associates, also wants to build a 487,000-square-foot data center near Sunnyside Road and Alberigi Drive, according to an Aug. 13 land development application and accompanying plans obtained via a Right to Know Law request. The data center would be next to the Lackawanna Energy Center natural gas-fired power plant.
Attempts to reach Catalyst Commercial Development were unsuccessful Monday.
The data center developer applied for the Breaker Street campus prior to Jessup Borough Council adopting a zoning amendment Aug. 19, which it re-amended Nov. 5, that defined and regulated data centers while restricting them as conditional uses south of the Casey Highway in light industrial/business park and general industrial zones encompassing the Valley View Business Park and the land surrounding the Lackawanna Energy Center plant.
The borough’s November 2020 zoning ordinance did not define data centers, only saying they “may include an internet server building,” though it did allow them in multiple zones, including the mixed-use zoning district covering the undeveloped land south of Breaker Street.
Although the data center buildings were allowed in the zoning district, the electric infrastructure fell into a more restrictive medium-density residential zoning district north of Breaker Street — leading to the project’s denial.
On June 25, Jessup’s zoning officer denied the application, and Breaker Street Associates appealed that determination the following month, according to the written decision. The zoning hearing board initially scheduled a hearing for Sept. 18, which was later moved to Nov. 18, before voting Dec. 23.
According to the findings in the written decision, the developer requested a special exception to allow the switchyard/substation in the residential zone as an accessory use by characterizing it as a “public utility facility.” The board ruled that the infrastructure is not an accessory use in the residential district, instead requiring the infrastructure to be built on land zoned for data centers.
The board determined that the switchyard/substation is not a public utility facility under the state Public Utility Code’s definition of one because “the proposed use is not ‘to or for the public for compensation.’” The developer also did not establish a basis to claim an exception under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, leading to the board’s denial, according to the decision.
The developer now has the option to appeal the decision in county court.