Data center developer appeals Dorrance Twp. rejection
Brewster Land Co. of Dorrance LLC has appealed a decision by the Dorrance Twp. Zoning Hearing Board that blocked its plans for a six-building data center in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania. The company is challenging the board's assessment that the township's zoning ordinance does not illegally prohibit data centers on its highway business district property, claiming the ordinance is "unlawfully exclusionary." The appeal has been filed in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.
Brewster Land Co. of Dorrance LLC, based in Franklin, Massachusetts, has filed an appeal against a decision by the Dorrance Township Zoning Hearing Board in Pennsylvania. The appeal, lodged in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, challenges the board's May 6 ruling that blocked the company's proposal to construct a six-building data center on a 155-acre parcel in Mountain Top.
The dispute originated from a "validity challenge" filed by Brewster Land Co. in August 2025, asserting that Dorrance Township's zoning ordinance was "unlawfully exclusionary" toward data centers. While the township subsequently amended its ordinance to permit data centers in industrial zones, Brewster Land Co.'s property is zoned as a highway business district, leaving its development plans in limbo.
Attorney Matthew McHugh, representing Brewster Land Co., argued in the appeal that the zoning board's decision failed to acknowledge data centers as legitimate land uses under Pennsylvania law, deserving of zoning accommodation. McHugh further contended that the board's determination was unsupported by substantial evidence and that it abused its discretion by allowing data centers only as a light industrial use, effectively denying a reasonable approval path for data centers in the township. Brewster Land Co. seeks a county judge to overturn the board's assessment. Township solicitor Christopher Opiel has filed related documents but has not yet submitted a formal response to the appeal.