ARCHBALD, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 The debate over the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus continued Monday night as Archbald Borough heard testimony from its own sound expert, who said the project could have significant noise impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
The hearing is the latest in months of testimony over the conditional use application filed by Cornell Realty Management LLC. The company is seeking approval to develop along Business Route 6 and Route 247, also known as Wildcat Road.<\/p>\n
The proposal includes 14 two-story data center buildings, administrative and security buildings, hundreds of parking spaces and nearly 60 acres of additional commercial development.<\/p>\n
Residents once again packed the meeting room wearing yellow \u201cNo Data Center\u201d shirts. After months of hearings that began in the winter, neighbors continue attending lengthy meetings as they await a final decision.<\/p>\n
Archbald Borough\u2019s sound consultant, Michael Spencer, testified that his analysis found the borough is an exceptionally quiet community compared to many others, particularly during nighttime hours.<\/p>\n
He said his review identified 14 locations where projected noise levels from the data center would be at least 20 decibels above existing background noise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 14 areas in the community which represent a significant number of properties that are 20 decibels or more above the background. That\u2019s a significant impact,\u201d Spencer testified.<\/p>\n
According to Spencer, projected noise increases ranged from about nine decibels in quieter areas to as much as 39 decibels, with an average increase of 16 decibels. During nighttime generator operation, he said the loudest location could experience a 46-decibel increase.<\/p>\n
Spencer testified he has worked on hundreds of projects involving generators and had never seen projected increases of that magnitude.<\/p>\n
He added that he believes the project would have a substantial impact on nearby neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
During cross-examination, the developer\u2019s attorney asked whether purchasing three of the properties expected to experience the highest noise levels would reduce Spencer\u2019s concerns. The question prompted audible reactions from members of the audience.<\/p>\n
Spencer responded that numerous other properties would still experience elevated noise levels and said he would need to review the borough\u2019s zoning ordinance to determine whether property ownership would affect compliance.<\/p>\n
The developer previously presented testimony from its own sound expert earlier in the hearing process.<\/p>\n
During public comment, several residents urged borough council to deny the application, raising concerns about health impacts, quality of life, property values and what they described as unanswered questions surrounding the proposal.<\/p>\n
Local Realtor Danielle Angeloni said the proposed development is already affecting homebuyers\u2019 interest in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cAva and I have had nine different buyers this year tell us to adjust their search perimeter to take Archbald, Eynon, Olyphant and Dickson City out because they will not move here due to this proposal,\u201d Angeloni told council.<\/p>\n
Public comment will continue when the hearing resumes on August 4 at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARCHBALD, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 The debate over the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus continued Monday night…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-242815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242815","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=242815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}