Proposed Newton data center campus is 10th planned for Lackawanna County

Archbald-based Popca LLC is planning a two-building data center campus on a 90-acre property in Newton Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, but the project has been denied by the township's Zoning Officer, D. Scot Haan. The denial, issued on February 19, stated that the proposed data center use is not permitted within Newton's rural resource zoning district. Popca LLC, whose contact is listed as former property owner Mark Gawron, filed an appeal on March 23, arguing that the zoning officer's determination was erroneous and improperly interpreted the Newton Twp. Zoning Ordinance, effectively excluding data centers from the township in violation of state law. The Newton Twp. Zoning Hearing Board is scheduled to hear Gawron’s appeal on April 27. The proposed campus is estimated to cost $280 million and would include two 35-foot tall buildings, generation yards, a well, septic system, substation, guard building, and stormwater facilities. This project is one of ten planned data center campuses in Lackawanna County. A nearby project by Scranton Materials LLC, proposing a six-building campus on a stone quarry in Ransom Township, also faced a setback. In January, Ransom Twp. supervisors denied a zoning amendment requested by Scranton Materials LLC's lawyers to add a data center zoning overlay. Attorney Michael Mey subsequently appealed this decision to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas, seeking site-specific relief. Other proposed data centers are located in Archbald, Clifton, Covington, and Dickson City.