Dickson City denies appeals for four Bell Mountain data centers

The Dickson City Zoning Hearing Board unanimously denied four separate appeals filed by Dickson City Development LLC, effectively blocking the proposed development of four data centers on Bell Mountain. The board's decision, which saw Chairman Fred Kohl and member James Shuta vote against the appeals, upholds previous denials issued by Dickson City Zoning Officer James Damski.

Damski had cited insufficient plans and a pending ordinance regulating data centers and prohibiting their construction above Business Route 6 as reasons for the initial denials. The proposed data centers included a 147,000-square-foot facility near residences, a 107,820-square-foot facility above Cold Spring Road, and two more 147,000-square-foot facilities on the Circle Drive-In’s property and an adjacent parcel. Property owners involved are Mountainview DC Realty LLC, Fore Up Realty, Scranton Circle Drive In Company Inc., and HFS Realty. Dickson City Development LLC is tied to Kriger Construction Inc., whose executives are also involved in plans for power plants and another data center project, Project Boson, in Archbald.

This marks the second zoning defeat for Dickson City Development LLC in a week, following the zoning hearing board's May 20 denial of the developer's challenge to overturn Dickson City’s data center zoning ordinance. The developer is currently appealing this ordinance in Lackawanna County Court and has 45 days to decide if it will appeal the latest denials, which would elevate that dispute to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. The outcome is a win for the "Stop Dickson City Data Centers Facebook group" and community opposition.