Hazle Township Seeks Remand of Data Center Case to Zoning Board
Hazle Township attorneys have asked the Commonwealth Court to quash an appeal regarding the "Project Hazelnut" data center, arguing the case should first proceed with the township's zoning board after a Luzerne County judge remanded it. The developer, NP Hazleton Holdings 1 LLC, disputes this, claiming the judge's decision was a final order and that the initial denial of their land development plan by the township supervisors was improper and influenced by political pressure.
Attorneys representing Hazle Township, Donald Karpowich and Nathan Favreau, have petitioned the Commonwealth Court to dismiss an appeal concerning the "Project Hazelnut" data center. They contend that a Luzerne County judge previously sent the case back to the township's zoning board for further proceedings, making it an interlocutory matter not yet ripe for appellate review.
Developer NP Hazleton Holdings 1 LLC, an affiliate of NorthPoint Development, through its attorney Richard Williams, argues that the judge's decision was a final order, not merely a remand, as it concluded the data center use was "not permitted by right." Williams asserts that the Commonwealth Court should review whether the township supervisors erred or abused their discretion in denying the land development plan for the 15-building data center campus, which also includes an electrical substation and water treatment facility.
The township supervisors initially denied the plan on November 14, citing that data centers were not explicitly identified in the zoning ordinance, thus requiring a special exception from the zoning board. Despite this, Williams noted that the township's zoning officer had previously issued favorable determinations and the zoning board granted a variance for parking. He also suggested that the denial was due to "political pressure applied by objectors," with 82 individuals having intervened in the case against the project.