Dozens of neighbors in Springdale packed the borough building again on Thursday night as debate raged on over a proposed high-tech artificial intelligence data center.
Thursday night’s meeting concerned zoning. The applicants for the project are trying to convince the borough council that the project is legal and meets zoning requirements.
At least eight people involved with planning, tests, and property assessments, along with other aspects of the project, were sworn in to testify at Thursday’s meeting. Only one of those people finished their testimony, with another partially finishing theirs.
The first person to testify was real estate appraiser Anthony Barna, who claimed to be familiar with the property in question. He said the building would cost anywhere between $420 million and $770 million to construct, and that the “conservative” estimates based on property values and millage rates would give the borough a tax revenue gain of about $2.49 million — about a 54% annual increase in tax revenue.
Additionally, Barna said the Allegheny Valley School District would receive about a 9.5% increase in school tax revenue.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to bring millions because we’re not going to get millions,” Sharon Spirk, of Springdale, said.
A lawyer representing the applicant told KDKA on Thursday that they feel the financial impact is important to highlight to the borough council and community.
“We feel that part of the general welfare is dependent on the economic benefit and the economic impact that a data center could bring to the community,” Harlan Stone, an attorney representing the property developer, said. “So, we feel that’s part of the narrative.”
Neighbors in recent weeks and at previous meetings have expressed concerns about excess water and power usage. One architect who began his testimony on Thursday night said that the data center would use about 500,000 gallons of water.
The architect said that those gallons would not need to be refilled, though, and that the company intends to pay for all of it. That architect also claimed that tests showed decibel levels would be under the zoning limits.
“They put this data center, and we’re gonna hear that hum continuously,” Spirk said. “We won’t have no birds, there won’t be no bees.”
Stone said the architect would get into the electricity angle when the meeting resumes from recess on Nov. 24, two days before the initial deadline for the borough council to approve or deny the project to meet state standards.
Both parties, including a representative from Appalachian Mountain Advocates, agreed to waive the previous deadline to ensure a thorough process where everyone who wishes to testify and speak can do so. There was no public comment during Thursday’s meeting.
“At the end of the day, in terms of transparency, the more information that the public has and the more we are able to provide it, the easier it’s going to be when it comes time to approve this request,” Stone said.
Stone said there is a meeting regarding zoning variances on Oct. 23 before the zoning hearing board, where the company plans to make requests to deviate from current zoning ordinances on some fronts.