Data Center Signal is tracking 4 clips about Slate Belt Holdings LLC data center developments across 1 states, including PA.
Slate Belt Holdings LLC is challenging Upper Mount Bethel Township’s zoning ordinance, arguing that it unconstitutionally excludes data center uses. The company has proposed up to 24 data centers on a roughly 754-acre property west of River Road, and the township’s zoning hearing board adjourned the validity challenge hearing.
Residents in Upper Mount Bethel Township, PA, are opposing a proposed data center campus from Slate Belt Holdings, which could include up to 2 GW capacity. Local officials are navigating zoning challenges and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the developer, with residents raising environmental, economic, and legal concerns. The township board voted to continue reviewing the MOU and challenge the developer's zoning validity lawsuit, indicating an ongoing legal and regulatory dispute over the project's feasibility.
Upper Mount Bethel residents urged supervisors to reject a data center agreement, but a motion to do so failed after a new, unreviewed deal was revealed. Developers had filed a lawsuit challenging the township's zoning ordinance, which supervisors decided to oppose. The township is also drafting a new data center ordinance.
Upper Mount Bethel Township supervisors tabled an agreement with data center developers Slate Belt Holdings, Talen Energy, and River Pointe Logistics. The proposed deal involved developers dropping a legal challenge to township zoning laws and donating up to $50 million in exchange for zoning changes and project approval. The decision was met with significant resident opposition and concerns about the agreement's one-sided nature and transparency.