Lower Towamensing Township residents organize opposition to proposed data center
About 100 residents attended a meeting in Lower Towamensing Township to organize opposition to a proposed data center complex spanning more than 700 acres. The developers, DTA Alliance LLC and Murphy's Meadow LLC, have filed a curative amendment challenging the township’s zoning ordinance, with a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 27.
Residents organized by Save Carbon County gathered at the Palmerton Area Library to prepare testimony, leafleting and other opposition efforts concerning a proposed data center complex in Lower Towamensing Township. The project would include 13 or 14 buildings totaling about 4.5 million square feet, along with a possible power-generation facility, across property that includes the Blue Shamrock Golf Course and the Alliance Sand Quarry.
The property owners, DTA Alliance LLC and Murphy's Meadow LLC, filed a curative amendment arguing that the township’s zoning ordinance unlawfully excludes data centers. The amendment would create an overlay district permitting data centers in the Resort & Recreation and Rural Conservation zones. A township Board of Supervisors hearing is scheduled for Oct. 27, while residents have raised concerns about water, noise and property values. The township has hired Norris McLaughlin PA to represent it in the zoning challenge.