Allentown is facing pressure, including potential legal challenge, from data center developers for speedy review and approval, emails reveal
Allentown officials are facing pressure, including a potential legal challenge, from developer Quantm LLC for quick approval of its proposed data center. Neighbors and a local non-profit are opposing the project and have filed a legal challenge against the city's zoning determination. The city planning commission is still reviewing the application, and Quantm LLC has also filed a curative amendment request challenging the city's zoning ordinance.
Emails reveal that Allentown officials are facing significant pressure from Quantm LLC, a Philadelphia data center development company, to expedite the review and approval of its proposed 224,000-square-foot data center at 2401 W. Emmaus Ave. The developer has indicated a possible "curative amendment" legal challenge if the process is delayed. The proposed facility, which would use 75 megawatts of electricity and require a new PPL substation, is currently awaiting a vote from the city's planning commission, which is expected to review the application again in the fall.
The project faces strong opposition from local residents and Camelot for Children, a nonprofit located across the street from the proposed site, which has filed its own legal challenge against the city's zoning determination. While city zoning officers initially determined in October that a data center was a permitted "by-right" use on the property, Quantm LLC later filed a curative amendment request in May 2026, challenging the validity of the city's zoning ordinance itself, particularly after a recent rewrite that changed the property's zoning district. Woodmont Properties, another developer, also filed a similar challenge for a different potential data center site.
Allentown has since introduced new requirements for public notification regarding data center plans and amended its data center ordinance to impose restrictions on where such facilities can be built, including setback requirements and mandates for environmental, noise, and waterway studies. However, these new regulations do not apply to Quantm's current application due to its earlier submission date. City Chief Planner Melissa Velez has expressed concerns that a data center may not represent the "highest and best land use" for the site when considering long-term planning objectives. The curative amendment challenge has been put on hold pending the planning commission's decision.