In a 2-1 vote that had residents on their feet and clapping, Clifton Twp. supervisors on Monday rejected a proposed settlement with a data center developer from Doylestown.
Township Chair Jill Zindle voted in favor of the settlement, while vice chair Ted Stout and supervisor Richard Grab voted against.
“I hope you understand what we went through,” an emotional Zindle said before casting her vote.
The crowd erupted into applause when the settlement was voted down, while at least six people representing developer 1778 Rich Pike LLC sat quietly as the audience cheered.
Rejection of the settlement is not the end of the story for the developers' project proposal, however.
Attorney Matthew McHugh, from Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP in Philadelphia, who represents the developer, said they plan to continue to presenting their case to the Clifton Zoning Hearing Board tonight at 7 p.m. in the Gouldsboro Firehouse.
He declined comment after Monday night's vote.
Stout, meanwhile, would not elaborate on his vote when asked by a reporter, while Grab stood silently near the back of the Gouldsboro Firehall where the special meeting was held.
Development background
1778 Rich Pike LLC plans to build a massive data center campus, which developers have previously said could include at least 30 buildings full of servers for artificial intelligence or other web-based operations. Attorney Anthony Maras previously said that the developer has signed a nondisclosure agreement with a company who would operate the center.
Site plans dub the development "Project Gold." The developer has sale agreements with at least 10 property owners between Clifton and Covington townships near Route 380.
On April 17, 1778 Rich Pike LLC, filed a substantive validity challenge with the Clifton Twp. Zoning hearing board, alleging that the township’s zoning ordinance excluded data centers and its uses. At the time, Clifton’s zoning did not include regulations for data centers. Supervisors passed a zoning ordinance in May for data centers.
The proposed settlement — a joint effort between the developer’s legal team and the township — aimed to provide site-specific relief to three properties within the township.
"Site specific relief is a form of rights that are given to a successful landowner when they challenge a zoning ordinance as being exclusionary,” solicitor Geoffrey Worthington said.
A tough vote
After more than an hour and 15 minutes of public comment on Monday from residents opposed to the developer's plans, Zindle called for the vote.
“This is where it gets tough, not going to lie, it’s very tough right now,” she said, needing a moment before she continued speaking.
Before public comment, Zindle reminded the crowd that the decision would impact everyone, including the three elected officials who are also property owners.
Zindle said the proposed settlement came after months of research and conversations. Residents who spoke felt that the settlement was rushed.
Worthington warned residents of Clifton — and also Covington, Thornhurst and Coolbaugh townships — that “if the board of supervisors were to take some of you up on your offer and fight this to the bitter end, I'm not sure what that looks like in your minds, because in my mind, that involves a huge risk.”
“That involves the risk of the Court of Common Pleas or even an appellate court, perhaps the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, perhaps the Supreme Court, imposing a degree of site specific relief on this township that allows this applicant to construct something that's far more impactful than what this proposed agreement provides for,” he said.
In June, property owner, JCO LLC, represented by Joseph Occhipinti, and 1778 Rich Pike LLC challenged the validity of the zoning ordinance in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. Occhinpinti owns a property on Clifton Road and another on Route 611 and Route 380 in the township that the developer plans to purchase.
Worthington called the proposed settlement a form of risk management.
“This avoids the uncertainty and potential disastrous outcome of litigation,” he said.
After the meeting adjourned residents came up to thank the somber-looking supervisors.
Compromises from both sides
Concessions were made under the proposed settlement, Zindle said, including allowing two of the data center’s buildings to be in a residential area and an increase to the height limit of the data center buildings. But the township negotiated the setbacks to 725 feet, 852 feet and 939 feet from any residence, she said.
Clifton also limited the square footage of the buildings, she said.
"I hope you understand what we went through,” she said. “Please go home and read it, word by word by word. Compare it to everything.”
Covington's opposition
For months residents have questioned the impact of the power generation and water needed to run the data center campus on their utilities. They also worry about noise pollution and the impact on the region's wildlife.
One of the more controversial parts of the proposed settlement is to put power generation facilities, including the potential for small nuclear power generators, and facilities to dispose and treat sewage and wastewater in Covington.
That section drew the neighboring supervisors to Monday's meeting.
The proposed settlement also states that all nonpublic well water sources for the data center would be located in Covington.
Covington Twp. Chair Melissa Kearney, who voted in July to add data centers to her township’s zoning, read a letter addressed to the Clifton supervisors, the developer and the property owners.
In the letter, Kearney said the supervisors were “not made aware of any of these stipulations.”
"This shifts the water supply, power generation and sewage disposal solely on Covington Twp. This burden of shifting is not legal or appropriate and Covington Twp. formerly objects to these stipulations,” she said.
Many residents, regardless of their address, were also unhappy with that stipulation. One said it's just an invisible line that separates the two townships.
“The water doesn't care whether it's Clifton or Covington, nobody dictates where the water can go,” Covington resident John Saar added.
Litigation either way
Many residents say they have already hired attorneys and threatened legal action if the settlement was enacted.
“The proposed data center campus would upend this quiet community,” said Louise Troutman, executive director of Pocono Heritage Land Trust. “It would destroy the rural character of our area, degrade the environment, cause light and noise pollution, increase everyone's electric bills and decimate property values.”
The land trust has a conservation easement on the Barton family’s over 700 acres of land in Clifton and Covington.
“If the township moves ahead with the agreement, we are prepared to file suit to protect the municipality,” she said.
After the meeting, former Clifton supervisor June Ejk said she was glad that the supervisors listened to the public’s concerns and addressed their issues.
