Three data center developers joined Archbald to defend the borough\u2019s data center zoning ordinance against a group of residents appealing the legislation.<\/p>\n
Developers affiliated with data center proposals along Business Route 6, Eynon Jermyn Road and the Casey Highway filed petitions in Lackawanna County Court in January and February to intervene against a land use appeal from residents seeking to invalidate Archbald\u2019s data center zoning amendment over alleged procedural issues.<\/p>\n
Attorney Donald G. Karpowich filed the land use appeal against Archbald Borough Council on Dec. 23, requesting that the court deem the ordinance void from the beginning, invalid and of no force or effect.\n<\/p>\n
Attorneys on behalf of the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus<\/a>, Archbald I LLC<\/a> and Project Green<\/a> join Archbald in its defense of the appeal<\/a>, which Karpowich filed on behalf of residents Phillip Sardo, Jack and Amy Swingle, Marilyn Jones, Robert and Phyliss Paone, Joseph Sabia and Justin Healey. Every appellant except Healey, who lives on North Main Street, resides on North or South Cougar Drive in a housing development off Eynon Jermyn Road, less than a mile from proposed data centers, including Archbald I LLC\u2019s.\n<\/p>\n All three data centers that intervened received favorable zoning designations in the zoning ordinance by receiving data center overlay designations that allowed data centers as conditional uses on their property.\n<\/p>\n Archbald Borough Council adopted a data center zoning ordinance with a 4-2 vote during a packed Nov. 24 meeting, defining and regulating data centers by tying conditions to their approval in multiple overlay districts throughout the town.<\/p>\n It amended Archbald\u2019s March 2023 zoning ordinance that had principally permitted data centers in large sections of the borough without defining them or providing additional safeguards. The zoning amendment restricted data centers as conditional uses in four overlay districts, requiring developers to attend a public hearing and adhere to conditions established by the town before council considers approving their requests.<\/p>\n The ordinance allows data centers as conditional uses in four data center overlays. They are:<\/p>\n \u2022 Hundreds of acres along Business Route 6 and Route 247, which are zoned for conservation and medium\/high-density residential uses. This is the site of the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus.<\/p>\n \u2022 The wooded area immediately north of the Archbald Pothole State Park and Staback Park along Business Route 6 and Eynon Jermyn Road. This is Archbald I LLC\u2019s 18-building data center campus.<\/p>\n \u2022 A narrow L-shaped band on the outskirts of Stavola Silverbrook Land LLC\u2019s mining land along the Casey Highway near Aylesworth Park. This is Project Green.<\/p>\n \u2022 Industrial land along Power Boulevard and in the Valley View Business Park.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n However, the residents challenging the ordinance argue in their appeal that the legislation does not adequately protect them because it \u201cincreases building heights and decibel levels; allows data center development in areas where they would not otherwise be allowed; increased allowable impervious coverage; and exempts the development of data centers from the steep slope requirements under the Archbald Borough Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n The appeal further argues that council failed to strictly comply with the procedural requirements in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, or MPC, and its own zoning ordinance.<\/p>\n Borough Solicitor James J. O\u2019Connor denied those contentions in a Jan. 16 response. O\u2019Connor additionally contended that the residents lack standing because they \u201cfailed to establish, and cannot establish, that reliance on the validity of the decision challenged in this matter has resulted, or could result, in a use of property that directly affects Appellants\u2019 substantial property rights.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor called the filing frivolous and said in his response that the ordinance and all procedural steps \u201cfully and strictly complied\u201d with the state\u2019s procedural requirements under the MPC.<\/p>\n Less than a week after O\u2019Connor\u2019s response, Green Mountain 6 LLC filed a notice of intervention dated Jan. 20 and received on Jan. 21, joining the appeal as it seeks to build seven two-story, 138,000-square-foot data centers on nearly 271 acres currently owned by the Stavola Quarry just off the Casey Highway and less than a mile from Lackawanna County\u2019s Aylesworth Park.\n<\/p>\n