During the third of possibly five hearings in a challenge to Clifton Twp.’s data center zoning ordinance, two expert witnesses gave insight into the needs of a modern-day data center.
The testimony provided details on how a data center is constructed, how power is procured and noise controlled, and the height of an effective center.
During the over two-hour meeting, the two expert witnesses, William Westhafner, an architect with Norr, and Jake Terkanian, executive vice president of CBRE, answered questions from lawyers for the developer, the township and a property owner, as well as residents.
1778 Rich Pike LLC, a developer from Doylestown, plans to build a large-scale data center campus with up to 30 buildings between Clifton and Covington townships in Lackawanna County. The development is dubbed “Project Gold” in site plans.
In April, the LLC filed a substantive validity to the township's zoning ordinance, saying it excluded data centers and its uses. Clifton supervisors added a zoning amendment to govern data centers in May, a month after the challenge was filed.
Matthew McHugh, an attorney from Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP in Philadelphia, represents the developer.
McHugh’s line of questioning sought to prove that the noise and height regulations in Clifton’s ordinance were too restrictive to build Project Gold.
How tall is a data center?
Clifton's ordinance allows data centers to be 35 feet tall, which is just under two stories for a commercial building.
Westhafner said, in his experience, data centers are typically three stories tall. Roof equipment adds to that height.
During cross examination, Clifton Twp. Solicitor Geoffrey Worthington asked Westhafner if it’s impossible to build a single story data center.
“Impractical,” Westhafner said.
“But not impossible?” Worthington asked.
“Not impossible … it would be rare to see a one story data center built today and if an owner ... can build more than one story, they're going to do it," he replied, later adding: "We're talking about a project that might be occupied in a couple years. So we've already seen the heights increasing. So we can't, we can't design a building at equal to or less than what's being built today.”
Noise regulations
As for noise, Westhafner said he has never dealt with an ordinance "that tight."
"I think that there are many private residences that would not meet that ordinance,” he said.
McHugh asked if he would be able to design a data center to meet Clifton's noise decimal thresholds.
“Possibly not,” he answered.
Clifton resident Oksana Froymany asked Westhafner if he would live near a data center campus like Project Gold.
“I don’t know how to answer that. I’m not moving,” he said.
She asked again.
“I know you don't believe me, but I think data centers can be good neighbors,” he said.
The right spot for a data center
Terkanian specializes in identifying land that has access to utilities for data center development for CBRE, a brokerage and real estate firm.
Terkanian said the first thing they look for is land and power.
“If you can't get land and power, then you're not doing a data center,” he said.
The properties in Clifton and Covington townships converge with PPL's 230kV transmission line.
"That's a tough cocktail to find,” he said.
Terkanian was not involved in finding the property for Project Gold but is helping with power procurement.
What's next
The hearing ended after over two hours. It was continued until Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. and, if needed, another hearing is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. Hearings are held at the Gouldsboro Fire Department, 490 Main St., Gouldsboro.
"We're dragging it out and inviting anyone who wants to be witnesses," former Clifton Supervisor June Ejk said before the meeting adjourned. "It's very frustrating and people are concerned that the people that are here as expert witnesses have nothing to do with that validity challenge."
Attorney Tom Nanovic, representing the Clifton Twp. zoning board, said he "hates" to wait a month in between hearings but with many parties involved, it's hard to find a date that works for everyone.
