Legal dispute between Clifton Twp., developer clouds future of data centers
A legal dispute between Clifton Township, Pennsylvania, and developer Quantm Group is clouding the future of a portion of Project Gold, an $18 billion data center campus. While a new conditional use application for six data centers and 900-megawatt battery storage has been filed in nearby Covington Township, Clifton Township's data center zoning ordinance was recently declared void by a county judge due to procedural issues. The developer maintains flexibility to proceed with the project even if it cannot move forward in Clifton Township.
A significant legal dispute between Clifton Township, Pennsylvania, and developer Quantm Group is impacting the future of an $18 billion data center campus known as Project Gold. While Quantm Group has submitted a new conditional use application to Covington Township for six one-story data centers, a 900-megawatt battery storage yard, and two switchyards/substations, the portion of the project intended for Clifton Township faces hurdles due to ongoing legal challenges over its zoning. Four proposed data centers are planned for Covington Township, with two initially slated for Clifton Township.
The legal entanglement in Clifton Township stems from three zoning challenges filed last year by 1778 Rich Pike LLC, under which Project Gold initially operated. These challenges contested both the substantive validity of the township's original zoning ordinance, which lacked specific data center provisions, and the procedural validity of a May 2025 amendment that attempted to define and regulate data centers. A settlement agreement reached in January between the developer and the township was subsequently vacated by Lackawanna County Judge Mark Powell, who ruled it was incomplete as it excluded the zoning hearing board.
Clifton Township Solicitor Geoffrey S. Worthington conceded in an August 7 court filing that the data center zoning amendment adopted last year should be declared void due to procedural issues, a declaration officially made by Judge Powell in a recent order. Despite this, Worthington defended the substantive validity of the township's overall zoning, which used a catch-all provision for undefined uses, while criticizing what he called a common "strategy" by data center developers to exploit municipal ordinances lacking specific data center regulations.
Attorney Tony Maras, co-founder of Quantm Group, stated that the company has contingency plans should the project be unable to proceed in Clifton Township. He emphasized that the proposed data centers, though spanning township lines, could be developed as independent or unified campuses, indicating flexibility in their approach to the ongoing legal and zoning complexities.