Residents sat on the floor, stood in the vestibule and outside of the Archbald Borough Building, as council members approved an unpopular zoning overlay that will allow data centers to be built in Archbald.
“Zoning is supposed to protect borough residents, not data park developers,” Sheri Skrutski, an Archbald resident, said.
After over an hour of public comment with residents pleading with the council to vote down the ordinance, a council majority passed the overlay.
Council president Dave Moran, Francis Burke, Marie Andreoli and Richard Guman voted yes. Council members Laura Lewis and Erin Owen, voted against the overlay.
John Shnipes III abstained. His family's property is involved in one of the data center developments, according to documents filed by Archbald I LLC.
One resident yelled, “You should be ashamed of yourselves,” from the audience after the vote.
The members who voted yes did not offer an explanation for their vote. When questioned by reporters, Moran shut the door that leads to a private room behind the council dais.
A data center zoning battle
A zoning overlay is a district that goes on top of an existing zoning district, explained Solicitor James J. O’Connor.
“The same uses are still in effect. The zoning overlay goes on top of that and allows the additional uses in the zoning overlay district,” he said.
In the overlay, data centers can now go in an area zoned for conservation and residential near Business Route 6. Across the borough, the centers can be built in town and along Archbald Mountain near the Casey Highway in industrial and commercial zones.
The ordinance also amended the current zoning ordinance to define data centers and establish criteria and standards for the facilities.
There are at least four proposed data centers in the borough, the most of any area in Northeast Pennsylvania. Developers are both local and from out of town. Residents say it's hard to keep track of the new proposals.
According to padatacenterproposals.com, proposals include:
- Archbald 25 Developer LLC (affiliated with Western Hospitality Partners), proposed a 186-acre campus with at least six two-story data center buildings on both Business Route 6 and Eynon Jermyn Road.
- Project Boson, led by PDC Realty LLC, which is managed by Jim Marzolino of Kriger Construction, plans to replace the Highway Auto Parts junkyard on Eynon Jermyn Road with a single data center.
- Archbald I LLC plans to build 22 data center buildings on two campuses, one which is located next to Ed Staback Park and would have 18 buildings.
- Wildcat Ridge AI Data Center Campus is a $2.1 billion data center campus proposal on nearly 400 acres of mountainside land along Business Route 6 and Wildcat Road. Plans call for 14 three-story buildings.
The overlay districts accommodate the developers, not the community, they say.
Kayleigh Cornell from the Archbald Neighborhood Association presented four myths to the board during public comment. Her third myth is that the zoning amendment was written to protect Archbald residents from the impacted data center.
"The amendment in front of you today was dictated by private landowners and developers, not by the residents of Archbald,” Cornell said.
Sunshine Act in question
Owen attempted to adjourn the meeting before it even began.
"This is unacceptable. This is a safety violation,” she said of the residents crammed into the meeting and sitting below the dais.
Owen stood the entire meeting in solidarity with the residents.
“You're continuing the meeting with public comment when this is a safety violation, you don't care about the health of the residents,” she said.
Residents, like Madonna Munley, said that several community members asked for the venue to be changed.
"Why wasn't a larger venue provided for the accommodation of the residents who want to attend this meeting?”
Sarah Gabriel asked Moran, who often stonewalled questions from the audience, why council thought the borough building was an appropriate location.
"There's people on the floor, there's people in the hall, there's people outside. It's November. It's freezing out there,” she said.
The council is potentially out of compliance with the Sunshine Act, said Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
“Especially because the agency had prior notice that space would be an issue,” she said when reached by WVIA News about the meeting. “People should not have to sit on the floor to address their public officials.”
Melewsky said anyone who feels their rights were violated could bring forth a Sunshine Act challenge.
Delayed vote gets a second chance
Archbald Council first attempted a vote on the overlay on Oct. 3. Council member Richard Guman motioned to pass the amendment. It failed because no council member would second it.
That meeting was held in a bigger venue, the St. Thomas Aquinas Church basement in Archbald.
In the weeks since then, residents came up with their own draft ordinance to define and regulate data centers and similar high-intensity computing facilities. Their ordinance would permit data centers as a conditional use in the borough’s industrial district east of the Casey Highway.
"Why wouldn't council discuss the amendment with more restrictions submitted by the residents?” Munley asked.
Vote determines who council will 'fight'
Part of the overlay is in a conservation district.
Resident Megan Farrell was one of 18 residents who spoke on Monday. She said habitat loss is already happening in the borough. She lives by St. Thomas Aquinas Cemetery and sees deer grazing on the grounds. She said there’s been an increase in bear attacks on trash cans and an influx of gophers, which erode the dirt under buildings.
"The best way to protect our resources and health is not to put the onus on the individual, but to regulate industries and corporations,” she said. “The rezoning will not be the worthwhile economic boom you are claiming. All that evidence points to potential short-term financial benefit to a select few individuals with long-term impact on the finances and mental and physical health of the residents, which include all of you.”
Carolyn Mizanty's family has been in Archbald for generations. She questioned why they would want to continue living there, surrounded by massive data centers.
"If you allow these data centers to come in, you are disrupting this entire community,” she said.
Amy Swingle asked about the future of the data center buildings. She said the original computer occupied 1800 square feet of floor space, was eight feet tall, 100 feet long and weighed 27 tons.
“The modern equivalent of the original room-sized computer would now be smaller than a grain of rice, with some saying it would be barely visible,” she said. "We can only assume the data center, as massive as they are now, will soon become obsolete. What will become of these giant, concrete behemoths? What will we leave for our children and our grandchildren?”
Justin Healey said the zoning overlay reshapes Archbald.
"Once a data center campus is built, it's permanent 24/7 noise, generating emissions, water draw, grid strain, truck traffic and emergency service impacts," he said.
“You may think voting yes tonight puts this issue behind you all, but it doesn't. It only determines whom you'll be fighting. Vote no, and you stand with your community, working together on something better. Vote yes, and your fight becomes with your own residents, your neighbors and your future voters.”
