The Plymouth Township data center fight now has a number attached to it: 43. Developer Brian O’Neill wants to put a 2 million-square-foot data center on the site of a former steel plant in the Philadelphia suburbs, but township officials have laid out a nine-page list of conditions covering power, water use, noise, pollution, labor and taxes.
The dispute has moved from planning friction to a zoning challenge. Under Pennsylvania law, Plymouth Township says it cannot reject a lawful land use outright, but it can apply zoning rules and require health and safety measures. The township says O’Neill’s company had represented that it would accept provisions proposed by the municipality. O’Neill’s lawyers are now challenging the township ordinance, arguing that the conditions have made the project too hard to build.
In a 12-page statement released Monday night, Plymouth Township called the challenge “a blatant attempt by the Applicant to demand approval by tantrum” and said it would not accept that approach. Lynne Viscio, president of the township council, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that O’Neill had “bullied” and “intimidated” township officials.
What does Plymouth Township want from the data center?
The township’s conditions focus on the things residents tend to notice when server farms arrive: electrical demand, cooling water, generator emissions, low-frequency noise and what happens when the operator eventually leaves. The document reads like a municipal attempt to keep the project from dumping infrastructure costs onto neighbors and public systems.
- Noise controls would require rooftop equipment to be screened by sound walls, plus noise studies before and after construction to measure ambient noise and vibration.
- The site could not create perceptible vibration that repeatedly rattles nearby windows, walls, ceilings, floors or household items, according to the township’s list.
- Electronic equipment would have to be shielded so radio, television and other broadcast interference is not detectable at the property line.
- Exterior lighting would have to comply with Dark Sky standards.
Cooling is one of the sharper requirements. Plymouth Township wants a closed-loop cooling system, meaning coolant would be recirculated rather than continually pulled from an outside water supply. The township says the coolant must be non-toxic and cannot be drawn from a public system or released into waterways, sewers or groundwater.
The township also wants annual water reports. The proposal would bar the developer from drawing water from the Schuylkill River, other waterways or public water systems except for restrooms and kitchens. It would also require a discharge plan and prohibit water releases into the Schuylkill River.
Power is another hard line. The township’s list says the project must generate its own electricity on site rather than rely on public utilities, and it should try to use renewable generation, with solar preferred where possible. The site would also need a clean-air microgrid or a combined heat and power system to address emissions and pollution. A combined heat and power system produces electricity and captures usable heat from the same fuel source, which can be more efficient than separate systems if designed well.
Other conditions reach beyond engineering. Buildings could be no more than two occupiable stories. The developer would have to add a pedestrian trail linking a sidewalk to a nearby interstate overpass, plant trees and shrubs near residential edges, recruit local workers and pay prevailing wages and benefits. Plymouth Township also wants a decommissioning plan backed by financial security equal to the expected cost of taking the facility out of service. The developer would have to assure the township that it will pay taxes and will not try to reduce what it owes.
Why is Brian O’Neill fighting the conditions?
O’Neill told the Philadelphia Inquirer that accusations against him were a “bold-faced lie” and said he had already agreed to “the majority” of the township’s requests. He said local officials are under political pressure from residents and others, but added that he is a landowner with property rights and that the township must be impartial and fair.
Council member Chris Manero offered the township’s least hostile framing in the municipal statement, saying data centers can bring technology and financial benefits. He still said officials should not trade away residents’ health and well-being to get those benefits, and he opposes the current application.
O’Neill wants to build six data centers in the area, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Plymouth Township case now turns on a familiar question for local governments facing data center proposals: whether strict operating conditions are ordinary zoning safeguards, or whether they function as a ban dressed up as mitigation.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.
