More than 30 residents attended a Lebanon County commissioners' workshop to voice objections to a proposed $1.7 billion, 99-acre data center in South Annville Township. The project would include five buildings and employ an estimated 50 to 100 people. The developer is petitioning for zoning changes with the earliest completion between 2028 and 2029.
County Commissioner Chairman Michael Kuhn told residents the county has no authority over township zoning decisions — the same jurisdictional confusion we've seen in Putnam County, WV and at the Michigan AG level. Resident Laura Warner called the project “a monstrosity."
Pennsylvania is now home to the most active data center battleground in the country this week: a model ordinance bill, state preemption bills, Governor Shapiro's PECO intervention, a proposed three-year moratorium from Sen. Muth, and now ground-level community pushback in Lebanon County.