Residents in Upper Mount Bethel Township made their opposition to a proposed data center clear as local officials weighed their concerns against legal limits that could shape how much control the township ultimately has over the project.<\/p>\n
Whether the developer can move forward with plans for a second major data center proposal in Northampton County could hinge on zoning challenges and several overlapping documents now under review.<\/p>\n
The focus of the Aug. 24 meeting was a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with the developer and whether the township should continue negotiating revisions or reject an agreement altogether. Most of the three-hour meeting consisted of public comment, with residents raising environmental, economic and legal concerns.<\/p>\n
The board rejected a motion to abandon any MOU by a 3-2 vote. Supervisors John Bermingham and David Friedman voted yes, while Jonathan Erler, Cori Eckman and Jason Albert voted no.<\/p>\n
Supervisors then agreed to continue reviewing revisions to the agreement and strengthening the township\u2019s data center ordinance, while directing the township solicitor to challenge the developer\u2019s pending zoning validity challenge.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the dispute is the fact that the property is already zoned for industrial development. The legal fight is less about whether something can be built there than whether a data center is already permitted under existing zoning \u2014 and, if so, how much authority the township has to impose stronger protections.<\/p>\n
Developer Lou Pektor\u2019s River Pointe Logistics originally developed the property as River Pointe Commerce Park. In April, Slate Belt Holdings LLC, a partnership between Talen Energy and the River Pointe Logistics team, acquired roughly 755 acres for a proposed 23-building data center campus. Conceptual plans include a 480 megawatt on-site substation and a potential build out of up to 2 gigawatts. That\u2019s enough energy to power roughly 1.5 million homes.<\/p>\n
In July, Slate Belt Holdings filed a validity challenge arguing that the township\u2019s existing zoning ordinance is invalid because it does not properly account for data centers and is therefore invalid as applied to its proposed project.<\/p>\n
Township solicitor Ronold Karasek described the MOU as a framework for how the township and developer would move forward, including negotiations over a data center zoning amendment, a community benefits agreement, pending litigation, and issues such as water use.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a binding contract,\u201d Karasek said, adding that the proposed language \u201ccuts both ways\u201d for both the township and the developer.<\/p>\n
Like their neighbors in Lower Mount Bethel Township, residents are vowing to fight to keep the data center out, but they may not succeed.<\/p>\n
Supervisor Vice Chair Jonathan Erler rejected the idea that the choice was \u201cdata center or nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep hearing that we need an alternative to data centers,\u201d said Erler. \u201cThe data center is the alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said an 800-plus-acre warehouse and manufacturing park already has approvals and argued a data center could have the \u201cleast amount of impact,\u201d while helping offset school and township taxes. He also said that passing the MOU was necessary to keep the township at the table and able to impose stronger protections through a new zoning text amendment.<\/p>\n
Supervisor Chair John Bermingham voted to abandon the MOU. He told The Center Square the land was zoned industrial more than 20 years ago and was initially intended for warehouses, which residents opposed. Data centers were later proposed as an alternative, but residents now oppose them as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we keep them out? I don\u2019t know,\u201d Bermingham said. \u201cCan we regulate them? Yes, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Zoning Hearing Board will hear and rule on Slate Belt Holdings\u2019 validity challenge. The board of supervisors can appeal that decision with a majority vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can only do so much at the local level,\u201d Bermingham said, adding that municipalities need help from the state lawmakers \u201cto either put a moratorium on data centers, or prohibit them outright.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pending legislation in Harrisburg, even if enacted, may come too late to affect the project. Bermingham also questioned how much protection Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s recent executive order will provide because, while it adds state permitting requirements for large data centers, it does not resolve local zoning disputes.<\/p>\n
Slate Belt Holdings granted the township a 30-day extension of the validity challenge, giving officials additional time to prepare their legal response and continue working through the MOU and proposed zoning changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll negotiate the MOU the best we can,\u201d Bermingham said. \u201cThe toughest thing is that we represent the people; we are the people\u2019s voice, but legally, how far can we take it? And that\u2019s the frustration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents in Upper Mount Bethel Township made their opposition to a proposed data center clear as local officials…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-276744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276744","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=276744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}