(The Center Square) – Less than three days after a judge ruled verbally that it had violated the state Sunshine Act, the Planning Commission in a township with multiple data center proposals voted on a data center zoning measure – even though the written order from the judge precluded such action.
It appeared this week that officials in Salem Township, Luzerne County, were not aware of the written order. It was signed by Luzerne County Judge Lesa S. Gelb and dated Aug. 25.
When a reporter for The Center Square took the written order to the township building on Tuesday, Township Manager Amy Evans said it was the first time she had seen it. “I will have to scan this and send it to our attorney and see how we proceed,” Evans said.
The situation left unclear the township’s legal stance toward a massive data center concept that would be the township’s third. Local property owners stand to collectively get more than $1 billion for their properties if it becomes reality.
Salem Township already has one data center project, sponsored by Amazon, in construction. Another, sponsored by QTS Data Centers, is far along in planning. The township signed non-disclosure agreements related to both.
The Sunshine Act violation involved a Planning Commission meeting held in July on a zoning matter tied to the third concept.
Eight citizen plaintiffs – acting without a lawyer – sued the Planning Commission and supervisors, alleging a violation of the Sunshine Act at that meeting. Among other things, they claimed people who wanted to attend were locked out.
Gelb told listeners in court on Aug. 25 that the commission essentially had to do the July meeting over because there was not complete access by the public.
At the time of her verbal ruling, the township supervisors and Planning Commission already had sessions scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The written order stated that those meetings could proceed but “stayed” any actions on “the proposed Special Data Center Overlay District or related zoning amendments.”
Late Thursday, the Planning Commission voted to recommended that the township supervisors approve an expansion of the district to allow for the third project.
But Gelb’s written order was not available last week in the online docket for the Sunshine Act case. It still was not available online Monday morning.
The Center Square obtained a hard copy of it Monday afternoon in a visit to Judge Gelb’s chambers in the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
Evans, the Salem Township Manager, said a zoning staffer who attended the court session on Tuesday heard nothing about the stay.
Lawsuits filed against the township are handled by an outside attorney retained by the municipality’s insurer, Evans said. In the case of the Sunshine Act suit, the attorney was William McPartland, who has an office in Scranton.
On Tuesday, McPartland declined comment on the Sunshine Act case and on questions about the judge’s order.
Nate Eachus, the lead plaintiff in the Sunshine Act case, and others said they could not access the written order online until Monday. Eachus said the group did not have an attorney and was still considering the content of the written order they saw only a day earlier – long after the Planning Commission had acted.
“It has only been 24 hours,” he said on Tuesday. But, he said, “It looks to me like they defied the order.”
Eachus and other members of the group said they believed township officials violated provisions of the Sunshine Act again in the two days following the judge’s ruling.
Data center proposals have become very unpopular in the past four months. The Amazon and QTS projects in Salem Township were both in the “fast track” state permit-issuing program created by Gov. Josh Shapiro until a few weeks ago.
Then, the governor – formerly a strong supporter of responsible data center development – condemned industry players and removed all data centers from the fast-track list.
Another plaintiff in the Salem Township Sunshine Act case, Gabby Malencore, 36, of Berwick, said the situation seemed “overwhelming” but her group did not allow itself to be intimidated.
She said, “People don’t realize the power they have with their voices, and organizing.”
