Zoning meeting on Emmaus Avenue data center in Allentown postponed
A zoning board hearing for a proposed data center in south Allentown, developed by Quantm LLC, has been postponed. The hearing was related to a legal appeal from the non-profit Camelot for Children, which disputes the city's determination that a data center is a permitted-by-right use at the site. Both the developer and the opposing party mutually agreed to the postponement.
A zoning board hearing concerning a proposed data center in south Allentown, Pennsylvania, has been postponed. The hearing was scheduled to address a legal zoning appeal filed by Camelot for Children, a non-profit located near the proposed site on Emmaus Avenue.
Allentown zoning supervisor Michael Handzo confirmed the postponement, citing a "late breaking request" from both parties. Anthony Maras, a spokesperson for the developer, Quantm LLC, stated that attorneys for both Camelot and Quantm mutually agreed to defer the hearing.
Quantm LLC, a Philadelphia-based data center development company, plans to convert a 224,000-square-foot warehouse at 2401 W. Emmaus Ave. into a data center. The project is currently awaiting a vote from the city’s planning commission.
The city had previously determined that a data center could be treated as a “permitted-by-right” use in the I-3 zoning district, equating it to manufacturing. However, Kevin Fogerty, an attorney representing Camelot, filed a formal legal appeal on July 6, arguing a “gross disparity” between data center and manufacturing uses, thus deeming the city's determination inappropriate.