After Sunshine Act violation, township plans third try at data center vote

(The Center Square) - The Planning Commission in a data center-saturated township will make a third try to carry out a valid vote tied to a billion-dollar data center initiative after learning from The Center Square of a judge's order that invalidated its second vote.

The saga involving the Salem Township Planning Commission in Luzerne County began when eight local plaintiffs without a lawyer sued the township, alleging the commission violated the Sunshine Act at the initial July meeting. A county judge agreed with them.

That triggered a chaotic series of events that culminated with a decision to re-do last week's second meeting. One of the plaintiffs, Teri Barren, on Friday said there was a lesson in it for citizens across the state worried about how their local officials are dealing with data centers.

"Stay on top of them and follow them," Barren said. "They slip this stuff in and your whole township is gone and you have no say in it as a resident."

Salem Township, which already has a nuclear plant, also has an Amazon-sponsored data center under construction and a second data center sponsored by QTS in the works. The Planning Commission's multiple attempts to pull off a valid vote on a data center zoning "overlay" are related to a third initiative.

In the latest one, local property owners could collectively get more than $1 billion.

The Planning Commission voted 2-1 on July 23 to recommend the overlay for approval by township supervisors. But Barren and fellow plaintiffs alleged among other things that would-be spectators were unfairly locked out of the meeting.

In Luzerne County Court in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday, Aug. 25, Judge Lesa Gelb verbally agreed with the plaintiffs. She  essentially said the commission had to do the July meeting over because there was not complete access by the public.

Another Planning Commission meeting already was scheduled for two days later - on Thursday, the 27th - and at that meeting the panel again voted to recommend approval of the overlay. That triggered a slew of news stories and press releases indicating a step forward for the project.

None of the plaintiffs, however, had seen the written version of the judge's order. Nor had the defendants.

An online portal containing Luzerne County Court dockets did not contain the order as late as the following Monday, Aug. 31.

That day, a reporter for The Center Square went to Gelb's chambers in the Wilkes-Barre courthouse and obtained a physical copy of the order. Dated Aug. 25, it said the Planning Commission could proceed but the panel was "stayed" from any actions on "the proposed Special Data Center Overlay District or related zoning amendments."

The reporter took the hard copy of the order to the township building the following day - Tuesday, Sept. 1 - and Township Manager Amy Evans said it was the first the township had seen it. On Friday, Township Solicitor Anthony McDonald confirmed that moment was the first the municipality had been aware of the full contents of the order.

Asked why the township was unaware of them, he said he was not in the courtroom on Aug. 25. McDonald questioned the actions of insurance company attorneys who represent the township when it is sued.

"You would think our attorneys would have given it to us," McDonald said.

Regardless, he said the wording of Gelb's order led to a decision to do the meeting over, yet again.

"We are taking that to mean it has been invalidated," he said of the judge's reference to last week's meeting and staying action on the overlay.

He said, "After we became aware of the order we decided to reschedule the entire Planning Commission meeting."

According to a township staffer, the newly scheduled meeting is to be held Sept. 24 at 5:30 p.m. at Berwick Assembly of God church on East Fifth Street in Berwick.

This story originally appeared on thecentersquare.com.