Rep. Ryncavage outlines potential legal challenge to Newport Twp. data center zoning notice
State Rep. Alec Ryncavage outlined a possible legal challenge to Newport Township’s April zoning ordinance change, which made data centers a by-right use and enabled 15 permits for a proposed campus. Hundreds of residents oppose the project, while the township’s solicitor maintains the ordinance was legally enacted.
State Rep. Alec Ryncavage said Newport Township residents may be able to challenge the April ordinance change that authorized data centers as a by-right use. He questioned whether the township’s public notice adequately informed residents that the zoning law was being changed, potentially affecting the usual 30-day deadline for procedural challenges.
Hundreds of residents attended a commissioners’ meeting to oppose a proposed 15-data-center campus on nearly 1,400 acres. The project, being developed by Fit Energy Group and backed by Fit Ventures, also includes three natural-gas generation facilities; 15 zoning permits were issued in August, but no land sale or project plans have been finalized and a developer-hosted public meeting has not yet been scheduled.
Newport Township solicitor Christopher Slusser said attorney Meyer Messinger was confident the ordinance complied with legal requirements and that Ryncavage may be misinterpreting relevant Pennsylvania Supreme Court precedent. Ryncavage provided local opposition organizers with information about potential legal remedies and said he has supported state-level measures involving a data-center moratorium, equipment tax exemptions and reporting of water and electricity usage.