More than 30 North Pocono-area residents, landowners and taxpayers addressed their concerns about a proposed ordinance change to allow data centers in Covington Twp.
They worry about how the zoning change would impact their water, their power and their future — their high quality streams, their wildlife and forests and how the emissions from the machinery to power the servers would impact the environment.
Despite residents' passionate pleas, supervisors voted at the end of the four-hour meeting to change zoning to allow for the data centers. Officials said the ordinance has protections for the community.
“We live here and people come here because it is rural and we do have that small town feel, and we have hunting, and we have hiking, and we have animals, and we have natural beauty, and this could jeopardize all of that,” Carina Havenstrite, a Covington Twp. resident, said before the vote. “Voting to change this zoning could jeopardize the way of life of this community, and it’s very clear that the community is not in favor.”
The township’s supervisors and around 200 people in the unairconditioned Moffat Estate Pavilion listened to their concerns. The elected officials said they’re worried about a potential court challenge if they voted against 1778 Rich Pike LLC’s application to re-zone seven parcels from Rural Residential to Data Center, Energy and Technology (DCET).
After meeting in a closed-door executive session for about 20 minutes, the board passed the measure 3-2 near 10:30 p.m. The meeting started at 6:30.
“We have a zoning ordinance that if we don't pass it, then they take control,” said Vice Chair F. Marshall Peirce. “Covington wants to stay out of court. We love our lawyer, but we don't want to spend all our money on lawyer fees. This ordinance keeps us out of court, and there's a lot in this ordinance that addresses the comments you made tonight.”
“I do not want to see us in court forever, spending all kinds of money in court to defend that action we can't defend,” said Supervisor William J. Willson.
Peirce and Willson were joined by Chair Melissa Kearney in voting yes to amend the township’s zoning ordinance to include data centers. Supervisors Wanda Andreoli and Bill Beavers voted no.
Zoning changes
The developer, 1778 Rich Pike LLC, is based in Doylestown. The company wants to build a data center off Route 380 in both Covington and Clifton townships, on land it has not purchased yet, according to Anthony Maras, an attorney for the developer. The project would include 500 acres in Covington Twp.
"They need proximity to ... big transmissions of natural gas, potentially," said Maras.
The centers also need to have access to long haul fiber for the internet, he said, adding it is already located near Route 380.
"So those are all critical elements of these site selections," he said. "That's why they can't just be put anywhere."
Maras said one of the conditions of the purchase was settling the zoning issue in Covington.
The developer has signed a nondisclosure agreement with the company that will run the data center, he said after the zoning hearing.
In May, Maras presented plans for the data center to the supervisors. At the time, the plans included 35 data center buildings and a future power generation plant. Maras said Thursday that the number of buildings will now be between 25 and 30 because of challenges in neighboring Clifton Twp., where some of the property is located.
The developer is challenging Clifton’s zoning ordinance.
Maras said Clifton Twp. will determine the size of the project.
He brought two experts to the hearing, including Keith Ottes from Langan Engineering and Environmental Services ,who is the engineer for 1778 Rich Pike LLC.
Ottes said he has not prepared a land development plan based on the new ordinance.
Maras said the United States is in an “arms race theoretically" with China.
“If we don't win this, all the freedoms you talk about here, the ability to stand up, to be like this, to say this, go away if China wins," he said. "And that's, that is an absolute truth, and I think it gets lost in the emotions, and nobody ever wants change in their backyard."
'People and the environment suffer'
Covington Twp. did amend its proposed ordinance before voting Thursday.
“There are a number of protections for the community in place,” said solicitor Joel Wolff.
Any company that wants to build a data center in the township will have to submit a master plan, which includes estimated economic impact and other impacts on natural resources, land and traffic.
The residents were not pleased with estimates. They were also concerned about who drafted the ordinance and if there was influence from the developer. They are also not convinced with the amount of money or jobs that the developer says the data center will bring to the region.
They expressed concerns about the potential to use nuclear power at the data center and the stress it would cause on local utilities and their wells for water.
They asked the supervisors to delay voting on any changes to zoning until independent studies could be done on how a data center would impact water resources, light pollution, traffic, noise and property values.
Peirce said there will be extensive studies once the developer submits final plans for the property.
Catherine Benson’s property on Dorantown Road is next to where the proposed data center would be built.
“Our concerns center on the overall lack of transparency of the process to date, as well as the ordinance’s potential to significantly alter the rural character, strain local infrastructure and introduce high impact industrial uses without sufficient environment, public health or community safeguards,” she said.
Amy Kelly from Clifton Twp. looked back on American history.
“All of these times we have rapid industrialization, what we come across is, without a doubt, people and environmental suffering because of a lack of regulation. You are the front line as our local leaders,” she said. “I understand that we need to have something in place, we have to have an ordinance if we want to ensure that there is limited or as limited destruction as possible from this industry that is, quiet honestly, inevitable and I think highly damaging to our country and to the world. But please question yourself as you vote, have you put in the restrictions to protect us but have you put in the restrictions to protect people 20 years from now, 40 years from now."