{"id":165859,"date":"2026-04-14T22:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/165859\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T22:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:36:10","slug":"largest-crowd-yet-shows-up-to-oppose-archbald-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/165859\/","title":{"rendered":"Largest crowd yet shows up to oppose Archbald data centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARCHBALD \u2014 Before testimony could begin Monday night on Archbald\u2019s largest proposed data center campus, lines of residents converged on a cardboard box at the front of Valley View\u2019s High School auditorium, filling it with hundreds of glossy flyers and booklets mailed throughout the borough last week in an effort to gain public support.<\/p>\n

The display of opposition set the tone for the next three hours as more than 500 residents packed the room for Archbald\u2019s third public hearing on the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus \u2014 the largest turnout yet for a Midvalley data center meeting.\n<\/p>\n

Following Wildcat Ridge\u2019s newly launched public relations campaign<\/a>, impassioned residents loudly vocalized their stance on data centers throughout the night, cheering on anti-data center speakers while booing and heckling the developer\u2019s representatives.<\/p>\n

Many in attendance wore bright yellow \u201cStop Data Centers\u201d T-shirts, with even more in the crowd holding \u201cNo Data Centers\u201d signs.
\n\"CommunityCommunity members deposit booklets Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus developers mailed to them during the public hearing regarding the proposed project at Valley View High School on Monday, April 13, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

The Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus proposes building 14 two-story data centers plus commercial and office space along 574.2 mountainside acres along Business Route 6 and extending up Route 247, or Wildcat Road. Each data center would be up to 80 feet tall with a 202,340-square-foot footprint. The campus would also have 316,000 square feet of commercial space, including a 50,000-square-foot grocery store with 1,800 square feet of retail space; two four-story, 85,000-square-foot buildings, with one mixed use and the other an office; and a 96,000-square-foot surface parking lot with about 360 spaces. The campus would have 41 backup diesel generators per data center, totaling 574 generators, each with a 2,000-gallon fuel tank amounting to 1,148,000 gallons stored on site.\n<\/p>\n

Wildcat Ridge was the first proposed data center campus in Lackawanna County when representatives approached council during a January 2025 work session, and despite at least 12 more data center campuses proposed throughout the county since then, including five more in Archbald, it remains one of the most controversial developments due to its location, water demands and electricity needs.<\/p>\n

The campus would use a maximum of just over 3.3 million gallons per day of water during the hottest summer weather while requiring 1.6 gigawatts, or 1,600 megawatts, of electricity, though Wildcat Ridge emphasizes it would need significantly less water during cooler weather, using about 53,553 gallons per day from October through April.\n<\/p>\n

Brooklyn-based Cornell Realty Management LLC filed a 777-page conditional use application for Wildcat Ridge on Dec. 15. Council held previous hearings on Jan. 28<\/a> and March 10<\/a>.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The fourth public hearing will resume May 14 at 5 p.m. in the Valley View High School auditorium, 1 Columbus Drive, Archbald, Borough Solicitor Jay O\u2019Connor said.\n<\/p>\n

Mailer return<\/p>\n

With its third hearing looming, Wildcat Ridge worked with Ryan Leckey Media, a local marketing agency, to distribute booklets and flyers to residents touting the campuses economic benefits and minimizing its impacts. A newly launched wildcatridgedatacenter.com<\/a> shared the same messaging.\n<\/p>\n

At the start of the hearing, Wildcat Ridge attorney Edmund J. Campbell Jr. of King of Prussia-based Campbell Rocco Law addressed the \u201cWildcat Ridge Propaganda Mailer Return\u201d box, which was initially on the stage of the auditorium near where the developer\u2019s representatives sit. Campbell said his client sent out the materials to explain that its cooling system would not draw water during a drought, and that the campus would not impact electricity use, calling electricity \u201ca much more regional, or even national, issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI find it inappropriate for the decorum of the meeting,\u201d Campbell said of the box, speaking over boos from the crowd. \u201cThere\u2019s lots of social media out there discussing this application and others, and anytime anyone suggests or posts something on those forums that is in any way supportive of data centers or this application, those things are immediately stricken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA box of booklets community members left near the stage in the auditorium at Valley View High School on Monday, April 13, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor responded that council will consider Wildcat Ridge\u2019s conditional use application based on the evidence they present. He then asked for the box to be removed from the stage, prompting residents to flock to the front of the auditorium to stuff it with their booklets and flyers.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Erin Owen said she and her fellow council members all received the same materials in the mail, but they did not ask residents to bring them.<\/p>\n

The nearly 8,900-member Stop Archbald Data Centers group on Facebook set up the box and encouraged residents on social media to return the mailers.
\n\"CommunityCommunity members enter the auditorium at Valley View High School for the public hearing regarding the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School on Monday, April 13, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Traffic scrutiny<\/p>\n

Traffic drove Monday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n

Traffic engineer Jerilyn Luben testified about a traffic generation report compiled by her engineering firm, Honesdale-based L&V Engineering LLC. Her report faced scrutiny during cross-examination.<\/p>\n

Luben projected a weekday average of 2,498 trips per day, with weekday \u201ca.m.\u201d peaks of 359 trips per hour and \u201cp.m.\u201d peaks of 342 trips per hour.\n<\/p>\n

The project will need a Highway Occupancy Permit, or HOP, from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, but it is not yet required at this point in the process, Luben said through testimony elicited via questions from Campbell. The sole purpose of the HOP is to ensure safe and efficient traffic, and Cornell Realty Management assured them that, regardless of the lengths needed to mitigate traffic, they will construct the improvements required by the HOP, Luben said.<\/p>\n

Wildcat Ridge would accept as conditions of approval that it must have an HOP and that it would fund any necessary improvements, according to Luben and Campbell.<\/p>\n

Attorney Justin Richards, who is representing residents challenging the borough\u2019s data center zoning, quickly questioned the traffic projections.<\/p>\n

\"AttorneyAttorney Justin Richards, who represents a group of borough residents challenging Archbald\u2019s data center zoning, asks questions about the presented traffic study during the public hearing regarding the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School on Monday, April 13, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

Richards pointed out that the 16 studies used to calculate the traffic generation report were based on an average of 557,000 square feet \u2014 nearly 10 times smaller than Wildcat Ridge\u2019s proposed 5.665 million square feet, which includes its 14 data centers and a 33,000-square-foot office building.<\/p>\n

He asked Luben if she believes her firm\u2019s report is accurate based on that disparity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the standard that is used,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is no other data available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richards further questioned Luben about whether traffic from the commercial and office space, including a 50,000-square-foot grocery store, were included in her projections.\n<\/p>\n

Luben said the additional commercial and office space were not included in the traffic projections. Wildcat Ridge\u2019s conditional use application acknowledges \u201cdevelopment of the commercial zone is expected to significantly increase traffic along Business Route 6\u201d but that it would create new high-volume intersections to address it.<\/p>\n

Wildcat Ridge also included a community impact analysis by Honesdale-based Shepstone Management Company in its application. Planning consultant Thomas Shepstone presented the analysis during the March 10 hearing.\n<\/p>\n

Although the commercial and office space were not part of Luben\u2019s traffic generation report, Shepstone\u2019s analysis frequently references their economic benefits for the borough.<\/p>\n

Richards pointed out that the community impact analysis quotes about 500 fewer trips per day than Luben\u2019s report, writing, \u201cThe project\u2019s total daily trip generation remains under 2,000 vehicle trips per day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you reconcile your expert analysis with that statement?\u201d Richards asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Luben replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo one of them is incorrect,\u201d Richards responded. \u201cIs it you, or is it the applicant? Which statement is incorrect?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe applicant\u2019s,\u201d Luben said as the crowd erupted in applause.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Tamara Misewicz-Healey, who founded Stop Archbald Data Centers in October with her husband, Justin, continued the cross-examination. She noted that the traffic generation report characterized truck traffic as \u201cnegligible\u201d and asked Luben whether she stands by that.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, as a proportion of all the trips,\u201d Luben said.<\/p>\n

Public opposition<\/p>\n

Public comment normally occurs after all of an applicant\u2019s witnesses testify, but with five-plus pages of speaker signup sheets, O\u2019Connor said council would begin listening to public comment on Monday, though commenters had the option to defer until Wildcat Ridge concluded its testimony.<\/p>\n

\"ArchbaldArchbald Borough Council Vice President Joseph Altier whispers to President Louis Rapoch during the public hearing regarding the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School on Monday, April 13, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

A dozen Lackawanna County residents took up the offer, including a retired longtime judge, a county commissioner and the county\u2019s controller.<\/p>\n

Retired Lackawanna County senior Judge Thomas J. Munley, a Jessup resident, referenced his 19 years as a judge to criticize Wildcat Ridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 19 years of seeing applications, I would\u2019ve thrown this out in five minutes,\u201d Munley said. \u201cIt\u2019s totally inadequate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He decried the developer\u2019s characterization that it would use an average of 50,000 gallons per day during most months.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t care about our environment here, number one. You don\u2019t care about what you\u2019re doing to our water system, number two. You don\u2019t care what you\u2019re doing to our electricity system, number three,\u201d Munley said. \u201cAnd number four, you don\u2019t care about the quality of life of these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded his remarks with a warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you something, unless you agree to a moratorium for a couple of years and let these people alone, or agree to put it on the ballot, pack your bags,\u201d Munley said to a standing ovation. \u201cPack your bags, get out of this place and don\u2019t come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lackawanna County Controller Gary DiBileo called on Archbald to make data centers a referendum for voters to consider on the ballot. DiBileo is a Scranton resident who has testified at previous data center hearings in Archbald and Dickson City following his experience opposing a data center proposal in Ransom Twp. just outside his neighborhood in Scranton\u2019s Keyser Valley section.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe developers and corporations should want this, because why would they come to a town where they are not wanted?\u201d he said, extending his call to municipalities throughout the county to consider data center referendums.<\/p>\n

Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, an outspoken critic of data centers who urged Gov. Josh Shapiro to enact a three-year moratorium on hyperscale campuses, took issue with Wildcat Ridge\u2019s marketing campaign, including a flyer sent to Valley View taxpayers asking, \u201cHey Valley View School District! What would you do with an extra $23 million a year?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone tries to buy your future, it\u2019s because they cannot earn your trust. \u2026 Let them keep their pamphlets. Let them keep their fake checks. Let them keep their carefully crafted fantasies. We will not be tempted, tricked or traded,\u201d Gaughan said. \u201cArchbald is not a line item. It\u2019s not a projection. It\u2019s not a number on a postcard. Archbald is a place. It\u2019s a people, and it\u2019s a promise, and Archbald is not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaughan also took aim at questions posed by the developer in its marketing that asked who\u2019s behind the data center opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is behind the opposition? Have you not been paying attention?\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the people who are sitting behind me tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same marketing questioned the source of funding for T-shirts and signs opposing data centers.<\/p>\n

Megan Farrell answered those questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s me,\u201d the fifth generation Archbald resident said. \u201cI place approximately $1,000 of signs on my credit card at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MeganMegan Farrell, left, sells \u201cNo Data Centers\u201d signs and t-shirts before the public hearing regarding the Wildcat Ridge Date Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald on Monday, April 13, 2026. Proceeds of the items go to a fund to help to pay for legal fees for residents to oppose Archbald\u2019s data center zoning. Farrell believes that a data center would not be beneficial to the community and would put stress on natural resources. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

Stop Archbald Data Centers recoups costs for signs $5 at a time, and she ordered about $1,800 worth of T-shirts, which the group recoups at $10 per shirt. A small group of family and friends donated to allow her to design and print flyers to distribute, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do it for our family,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cOur passion to protect this town and its residents, it\u2019s something that you will not be able to afford or pay for from your employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judy Quinlan, an Archbald resident, cautioned data center developers about opposition from residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t ever underestimate the power of the people, the power of conviction and the power of protest,\u201d she said. \u201cWe won\u2019t back down, so if there\u2019s 70-, 80-year-old women standing at the construction site, don\u2019t be surprised. We\u2019ll be there, and we\u2019ll stop it because we\u2019re going to resist the billionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARCHBALD \u2014 Before testimony could begin Monday night on Archbald\u2019s largest proposed data center campus, lines of residents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2117,2116,201,182,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-165859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-archbald","tag-data-centers","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}