OLYPHANT — Residents who fear the effects of data centers clashed Tuesday with borough officials before council voted unanimously to resolve a Charles DeNaples-managed company’s lawsuit over a zoning amendment.
Council’s vote does not approve any data center projects — it validates an amendment that regulates data centers by establishing conditions developers must meet to receive approval from council.
Throughout the two-hour-plus meeting, Olyphant officials repeatedly attempted to reassure concerned residents that the borough was trying to protect them while operating within the law. Residents pushed back, urging the borough to take more time to regulate the industry, to reduce the amount of land where data centers are conditionally allowed, and to provide more transparency surrounding the process.
Tuesday’s meeting also had an increased police presence following a Facebook post from a borough resident referencing violence, Chief James DeVoe said. Officers went to the resident’s house and spoke to his wife, who said he was out of town, DeVoe said.
Olyphant Police Chief James DeVoe, left, and Officer Clayton DeVoe monitor a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
“From now on, because of the hostility that comes with the data center stuff, it could get violent,” he said. “We’re not going to take that chance. We want everybody safe, including the people coming here to protest.”
More than 80 people packed Olyphant’s council chambers, overwhelmingly to oppose the industry. Much of the criticism was directed at the borough’s decision to designate data centers as conditional uses across about 1,000 acres of industrially zoned land south and east of the Casey Highway. A fledgling “Stop Olyphant Data Centers” movement adds to the growing local opposition to data centers.
Council voted 6-0 on a resolution that ended a lawsuit from Triboro Commerce Park LLC, a firm managed by Charles DeNaples, the son of Keystone Sanitary Landfill co-owner Dominick DeNaples. The commerce park owns just over 400 acres of the land zoned for data centers. It had submitted plans to develop seven data centers, though borough Engineer Lou LaFratte confirmed the commerce park subsequently withdrew those plans.
There are now nine data centers proposed in the borough after ERCOR Triboro, a limited liability company under St. Louis-based Sansone Group, applied to change its land use from four 1-million-square-foot warehouses. Sansone bought 500 acres from DeNaples last year for $80 million. The data centers would encompass about 100 acres of ERCOR’s land, Lafratte said.
Olyphant resident Eva Rappenglueck, a core member of the Stop Olyphant Data Center movement, holds a “We the People” sign and reacts to public comment during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Olyphant resident Natalia Berjashi holds a “We the People” sign during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Residents pack Olyphant’s council chambers for a meeting on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Olyphant resident Halil Berjashi asks the crowd to raise their hand if they oppose council’s vote to resolve a lawsuit until they more details during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Residents fill Olyphant’s council chambers for a meeting on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
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Olyphant resident Eva Rappenglueck, a core member of the Stop Olyphant Data Center movement, holds a “We the People” sign and reacts to public comment during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Council President Jimmy Baldan, Vice President Bob Hudak and Councilmembers Michel Abda, Beth Frushon, Dina Harrington and Eric Hartshorn voted in favor of the resolution. Council accepted the resignation of former Councilman Joseph Collarini during Tuesday’s meeting. Collarini, who was not present, began his four-year term in January.
‘Well thought out’
A procedural debacle prompted council’s vote Tuesday. On April 14, council voted twice on a zoning amendment addressing data centers, initially voting 4-3 to adopt it and then voting 4-3 to deny it.
During the meeting, council considered an amendment to define data centers and associated uses while restricting them as conditional uses in the borough’s “large scale mixed commercial/manufacturing district,” or CM-2 zone, which encompasses about 1,000 acres surrounded by the Casey Highway, Route 247 and Marshwood Road.
Moments before council was going to vote, Collarini suggested a curative amendment, declaring the borough’s zoning as invalid because it excludes data centers, in an attempt to give the town a six-month window to come up with additional regulations in response to community concerns.
The zoning amendment initially passed with a 4-3 vote, with Baldan, Frushon, Hartshorn and Hudak voting in favor of it, and Collarini, Abda and Harrington voting against it. The vote drew immediate opposition from the crowd. Amid the uproar, Bill Shigo, Olyphant’s zoning officer who was standing in as the secretary, suggested a revote due to the noise. Council voted a second time, and Frushon changed her vote to make it a 4-3 denial. Council then voted to invalidate its zoning and seek a curative amendment.
A woman holds a “NO DATA CENTERS” sign during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Triboro Commerce Park’s lawsuit asked the court to recognize council’s initial 4-3 vote that adopted data center regulations.
On Tuesday, Olyphant’s new solicitor, John Brazil, who replaces the late, longtime solicitor C.J. Mustacchio, told the crowd it was his opinion that council’s initial vote adopted the data center zoning standards.
“The stipulation tonight is just settling the lawsuit, saying the borough recognizes that that stipulation has passed, and there is now an amended zoning ordinance relative to data centers,” Brazil said, defending the legislation. “That ordinance was well thought out. It was developed over eight months.”
Olyphant’s new solicitor, John Brazil, speaks about data centers during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
He emphasized it restricts data centers to land that already allows landfills and slaughterhouses, while establishing decibel levels, buffers, prohibiting on-site power generation aside from emergency backup generators, and requiring studies and information on water and electricity.
Without the amendment, Olyphant would have “absolutely no restrictions” on data centers, Brazil said.
Baldan said that by seeking a curative amendment without a resolution, the borough had acted illegally.
“We wanted to do the right thing, but we broke the law,” the council president said.
Olyphant council President Jimmy Baldan discusses data centers during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
‘Like a noose’
Opposition dominated Tuesday’s meeting.
Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, who frequently testifies against data centers at local public hearings, reiterated his recent push for a countywide health impact study and stressed the cumulative effects of more than a dozen data center campuses proposed across the county. Those campuses amount to 90-plus individual data centers.
“Data centers and power plants are surrounding our neighborhoods like a noose around the neck of Lackawanna County,” Gaughan said. “It is a sweeping transformation unlike anything that we have seen in generations.”
Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan stressed the cumulative affects of data centers during an Olyphant council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Sara Rosas, a high school student from Honesdale, cautioned council about the impacts of data centers and the artificial intelligence they produce.
“I don’t want to see my peers fall behind because they have to rely on machines, and I also don’t want to see my home, the environment, be destroyed, and water sources to dry out because of these data centers — I think it’s really stupid,” the teen said. “I don’t like the thought of having computers take over the entire world, especially when I’m so young. I want a future.”
Sara Rosas of Honesdale cautions Olyphant officials, “I don’t want to see my peers fall behind because they have to rely on machines, and I also don’t want to see my home, the environment, be destroyed, and water sources to dry out because of these data centers,” during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Olyphant resident Eva Rappenglueck, a core member of the 1,600-plus member Stop Olyphant Data Center movement, pressed officials on the 1,000-acre zoning district, what the borough would gain from data centers and the impacts on electrical costs.
LaFratte told her that while Olyphant does not have a high tax rate, in addition to a 10-year tax break applied to the 1,000-acre site, the borough would make its money by selling electricity to data centers. Unlike most municipalities, Olyphant operates its own electric company, and its zoning requires data centers to get their power from the borough.
Clarks Summit resident Jeffrey Lake, who unsuccessfully challenged state Sen. Marty Flynn in last month’s Democratic primary for the 22nd Senate District seat, calculated that, at 1,000 acres, data center-zoned land encompasses nearly a third of Olyphant.
“It’s 28.7% of all of the land in Olyphant,” Lake said. “That’s wild — wild.”
Clarks Summit resident Jeffrey Lake, who unsuccessfully challenged state Sen. Marty Flynn in last month’s Democratic primary for the 22nd Senate District seat, speaks during an Olyphant council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
With reduced time to speak because he is not a borough resident, Lake quickly questioned council on whether they had spoken to local legislators like state Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-40, who co-sponsored a three-year data center moratorium; suggested looking at a Midvalley regional zoning initiative; and contended state law allows the borough to limit acreage to a building and require certain amounts of renewable energy.
Borough resident Natalia Berjashi said Olyphant has nothing to gain from data centers, but a lot to lose: nature, wildlife, clean water, air, peace and quiet, property values, affordable utilities and their health and well-being.
“The decisions that you make will affect generations to come. They will carry weight for decades,” Berjashi said to council. “Will you allow data centers to scar this community, to rob this community, or will you fight for this community? Will you stand up for this community that voted for you?”
Olyphant resident Natalia Berjashi asks borough officials, “Will you allow data centers to scar this community, to rob this community, or will you fight for this community?” during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
Lauren Telep, an Olyphant resident, individually asked council members whether they support data centers, receiving “no’s” from the officials.
“If you’re against the data centers, let’s stand up and fight,” Telep said.
“The fight has just begun now,” Baldan replied.
Olyphant resident Lauren Telep engages with council President Jimmy Baldan, seated third from right, during a council meeting in the Municipal Building in Olyphant on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)