Lackawanna County data center project faces legal challenge after zoning denial
A proposed six-data center campus in Ransom Township, Pennsylvania, faced a zoning denial after a Scranton resident, Susan Magnotta, successfully challenged the application based on environmental and utility concerns. The developer, Scranton Materials LLC, has since filed a lawsuit in Lackawanna County Court, arguing Magnotta lacked standing to intervene as she is not a resident of Ransom Township.
A proposed six-data center campus on a 251-acre property at 819 Newton Road in Ransom Township, Pennsylvania, has become the subject of a legal challenge after local opposition led to a zoning application denial. Scranton resident Susan Magnotta, whose property is less than a mile from the proposed site, voiced concerns about stormwater runoff, potential pollution, strains on utilities, threats to wildlife, and decreased property values.
Her daughter, attorney Laura McGarry, successfully moved for a dismissal of the zoning change application at a public hearing in January, leading the Ransom Township Board of Supervisors to deny the request. Subsequently, the developer, Scranton Materials LLC, filed a lawsuit in Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas, arguing that Magnotta lacked legal standing to challenge the proposal because she is not a resident of Ransom Township or in sufficiently close proximity to the site to demonstrate a "substantial, direct and immediate interest" in the litigation.
This editorial argues against limiting the right of affected citizens to challenge development plans based on municipal borders, especially given the broad impact of data centers on surrounding communities regarding power, water, noise, and traffic. The Ransom Township Board of Supervisors, notably, does not oppose Magnotta's intervention in the lawsuit.