Throop declared its own zoning invalid to give itself time to regulate data centers.\n<\/p>\n
The borough now has until the end of July to adopt zoning standards governing data centers after council took the uncommon step in January to deem part of its own 2021 zoning ordinance invalid because it failed to address data centers. To remedy its exclusionary zoning, council unanimously voted Jan. 27 to prepare a curative amendment to define and regulate data centers, according to meeting minutes.<\/a><\/p>\n By preparing its own curative amendment, Throop is using a provision under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, or MPC, more commonly leveraged by property owners, not municipalities.<\/p>\n About curative amendments<\/p>\n Municipalities in Pennsylvania are required to allow for every type of lawful land use somewhere within their borders, from landfills to data centers, and failing to do so exposes local governments to legal challenges due to exclusionary zoning. The MPC allows property owners to challenge the validity of a municipality\u2019s zoning when it prohibits or restricts the development of their land, and to \u201ccure\u201d the defect, they can submit a curative amendment providing their own zoning standards. The MPC also allows a municipality to adopt its own curative amendment, but local governments rarely use that provision.<\/p>\n Municipalities throughout Lackawanna County have spent the past year scrambling to update their land-use laws to address data centers and avoid similar challenges like the legal battle now playing out<\/a> in Ransom Twp. after Scranton Materials LLC sought a curative amendment to allow data centers on its Newton Road property because the township\u2019s zoning ordinance did not include them. When supervisors effectively denied that amendment in January, the quarry took the township to court, asking a judge to declare Ransom\u2019s zoning ordinance as exclusionary to data centers.<\/p>\n Prior to 2025, virtually none of Lackawanna County\u2019s 40 municipalities adequately defined and regulated data centers in their zoning ordinances. The only communities to reference data centers in their zoning \u2014 Archbald and Jessup, which used the same planning company to develop their ordinances \u2014 only referenced the facilities while being overly permissive with their zoning standards. That permissive zoning eventually required the borough councils in both towns to adopt data center-specific amendments restricting their development.\n<\/p>\n So far in the Midvalley, Archbald, Blakely, Dickson City and Jessup have adopted data center zoning standards, with Olyphant set to hold a March 31 hearing to consider its own legislation. Elsewhere in Lackawanna County, communities that have also updated their zoning for data centers include Carbondale, Clifton Twp., Covington Twp. and Mayfield.\n<\/p>\n There are currently data centers proposed in Archbald, Clifton and Covington townships, Dickson City, Jessup, Olyphant and Ransom Twp. Some of those proposals are now tied up in legal battles, though.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Throop\u2019s zoning<\/p>\n In Throop\u2019s case, borough council adopted two resolutions on Jan. 27. The first resolution<\/a> declared its zoning ordinance \u201csubstantially invalid with respect to the use of property for the establishment and operation of a property for a data center.\u201d It gives the borough up to 180 days to amend its zoning, setting a late July deadline for the legislation.\n<\/p>\n