Residents urge ask Butler to hold off on rezoning land for data center’s third phase

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS – In two hours worth of testimony, residents of Butler Township and Gordon borough asked supervisors to hold off on clearing a hurdle for Phase 3 of a proposed data center campus at the Highridge Industrial Park.

Township supervisors held a public hearing beginning at 3:30pm Tuesday and running up to the regular meeting at 6pm.

Two zoning ordinance amendments were up for consideration: one would rezone two parcels of land on the west side of Gordon Mountain Road and north of Interstate 81 to allow for data center development and the other would reduce the maximum noise level for data centers from 75 decibels to 65 decibels.

Supervisors took no action on either ordinance amendment, tabling them until August 31 as they plan to add a clause requiring a data center developer to pursue a community benefits agreement and to consider an even lower noise level following resident feedback.

Nebius, a Dutch company, is developing a data center campus on the east side of Gordon Mountain Road on property originally eyed for a warehouse development by Northpoint Development.

The current project covers Phases 1 and 2 of the project. A third phase is planned across the street but requires action by the township to rezone the property. In total, it would cover 600 acres.

The Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO), the economic development arm of the county, is backing the development and currently owns the land where Phase 3 is planned.

“Before we allow more data centers, lets see how they are [first],” Jason Quick, of Butler Township, said. “There’s no reason to do it now.”

“Make them prove themselves,” another resident said.

Gordon residents voice concerns

The nearest homes to the development are in Gordon borough at the foot of Broad Mountain. ‘No Data Center’ signs are a common sight in the community and numerous affected residents in Gordon, including Council President Jeffrey Hoffman, raised concerns or outright spoke out against the project at Tuesday’s hearing.

Butler Township allowed residents of other communities to provide input, unlike other municipalities in the county.

Adam Twardzik, of Frackville, also questioned why the additional acreage needed to be rezoned now when the first two phases haven’t cleared developmental red tape yet.

“I know you have friends who live in Gordon. I hope you can be a good friend to them and a good neighbor to all of the people of Gordon,” Carol Fetterolf, a Gordon resident, said.

Supervisors plan to add a requirement for a community benefits agreement in the amendment to be considered on August 31. Hoffman asked if Gordon can be a party to that.

Solicitor Chris Riedlinger said it would not be limited to Butler Township and the township would pursue Gordon’s participation and that Nebius seems agreeable to it.

The ordinance amendments were tabled pending further changes and the hearing will continue on August 31 at 6pm followed by a special voting meeting at 7pm.

Overarching Project

The overarching project, according to a Nebius website, would cover 600 acres and would employ a closed-loop cooling system. They said they will built acoustical sound walls to keep the site quiet.

Two buildings are planned for Phase 1. The company said they are funding the engineering and construction costs of new energy infrastructure built exclusively for the campus.

Last December, PPL Electric Utilities held an open house for a pole line upgrade project that includes a switchyard at the Nebius site. The upgrades were, in part, for a “new customer” though they would not confirm who the customer was.

They said power will be paid for entirely by Nebius, “meaning no increase to residential electricity bills for Butler Township residents.”

That terminology was directly called out by Frackville resident John Gower in Tuesday’s hearing.

“Of course they’re going to pay a bill, but they’re talking like everyone is stupid,” Gower said. “Of course we don’t think we’re going to actually pay their bill. It’s a simple economics supply-and-demand issue. We’re not getting new power being built but way more is being consumed.”

The article Residents urge ask Butler to hold off on rezoning land for data center’s third phase first appeared on The Shenandoah Sentinel.