Last year, Jessup's planning commission denied a data center developer’s land development plans.
Breaker Street Associates LLC, from Conshohocken, then sought to bypass the decision through a legal appeal to construct its six-building data center campus on over 200 acres on Breaker and Hill streets.
The company claimed that Jessup violated the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code because they did not issue a proper written decision to deny the plans within the code’s required 90-day time frame.
On Oct. 22, Lackawanna County Judge Terrence R. Nealon ruled in favor of the borough and denied Breaker Street’s arguments that its project was “deemed approved,” according to court records.
Nealon’s decision says that Jessup did not violate the planning code since Breaker Street voluntarily resubmitted its land development plans twice.
“We’re obviously pleased with the outcome,” Jessup Council President Gregg Betti said. “We feel that we’re in the right.”
Breaker Street’s attorneys, Richard Williams and Kevin Walsh Jr. from Hourigan, Kluger and Quinn in Kingston, did not return calls for comment.
The past year
Breaker Street applied to develop the property into a data center campus with an electrical switchyard and substation on June 11, 2025.
On June 24, 2025, Jessup’s planning commission denied the application because part of the campus was planned in the borough’s residential zoning district, where data centers are not permitted. The commission failed to elaborate further, but the Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission had critiques.
The developer resubmitted its application on July 23, 2025 and Oct. 2, 2025 in order to address those issues.
On Oct. 17, 2025, the commission issued another written decision to deny the application and listed seven specific deficiencies.
Breaker Street still argued that Jessup’s Planning Commission failed to issue a "sufficiently specific decision” regarding the June 11 and July 23 applications, according to court records. So therefore they believe that the project was “deemed approved.”
In his decision Nealon argues that Breaker Street’s July 23 and Oct. 2 resubmitted applications included significant changes and restarted that 90-day decision period under the planning code.
Nealon argues that Breaker Street presented no evidence that Jessup compelled the company to resubmit applications.
Problems from the beginning
Despite the timeline for denial, there were problems from the beginning with Breaker Street’s application, Nealon’s decision shows. Both Jessup and Lackawanna County told Breaker Street its application left out many of the requirements needed for land development approval.
The Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission found that Breaker Street’s application did not include a traffic study, erosion/sediment and stormwater management plans and will-serve letters from utility companies.
Breaker Street also planned to build in areas of the borough that are not zoned for data centers, including the switchyard/substation which would be on landed zoned residential.
They didn’t list tree species that would be planted at the campus, provided inadequate information on needed parking spots and did not include designs for the exterior of the building.
