After Public Firestorm, Developer Tries Again For Data Center In Plymouth Twp.

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, PA — Just weeks after emails surfaced between real estate developer Brian O'Neill and Gov. Shapiro's administration about ways to restrict data center appeals project, O'Neill has resubmitted plans to build a massive data center on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Plymouth Township.

A similar, intensely controversial proposal at the exact same location, the former Cleveland Cliffs steel plant on 900 Conshohocken Road, was withdrawn in Nov. 2025 after massive resistance from residents and officials.

"Township officials recognize the strong public interest in this proposal," Plymouth Township shared in a statement. "Township Council remains focused on protecting the health, safety, and welfare of residents while carefully evaluating the application. The Township is committed to a transparent, fair, and legally compliant process.

A hearing must be scheduled within 60 days, and the township says they plan on taking the bulk of that time.

The planning commission voted 4-0 against recommending the project last year. This is essentially the same application, and will face nearly all of the same issues the first application did.

See also: Vote On Controversial Montco Data Center Suddenly Halted

According to emails obtained in a Right to Know request by the advocacy group Concerned Citizens of Montour County, O'Neill has been lobbying the Shapiro administration to put together legislation that would require anyone who wants to appeal a data center project to post a bond that is worth double the cost of the project.

"Example, if a $2 million project is postponed due to an appeal, they should have to post a bond for $4 million," O'Neill wrote to Benjamin Kirshner, Shapiro's "chief transformation officer."

See also: Montco Data Center Developer Lobbies Gov. Shapiro's Office To Take Away Appeal Rights

That same trove of emails also revealed numerous communications between Amazon and the Shapiro administration, including efforts to keep Amazon's identity as the developer behind numerous projects in Pennsylvania a secret.

It remains unclear to what extent these relationships will impact the Plymouth Township project, and if the Shapiro administration will exert the influence for which O'Neill has lobbied.

The chief legal issue with the Plymouth site remains zoning, and the chief controversy will remain how data centers are zoned, based on their widespread impacts on community and environmental health.

The Cleveland Cliffs site is within the township's Heavy Industrial zoning district. Data centers are not a covered industrial use, so the application must obtain a special exception to the ordinance. From a purely legal perspective, the township must determine if the proposal meets the existing ordinance’s "standards and intent."

The proposal calls for a 2.2. million square foot facility on the 66 acre site.

Activists have brought forth a barrage of concerns about the site, including its proximity to dense residential areas like the Connaughtown development, its impact on the health of the immediately adjacent Schuylkill River, noise and air pollution, and a broader and generally bipartisan skepticism from the public about the beneficiaries of infinitely scaling artificial intelligence projects.

The advocacy group PA Data Center Accountability notes that the project still has not publicly addressed key points like emissions from backup generators, its cooling systems, water withdrawal limits, and other key safeguards that would protect local communities.

Organizers with protest groups urge the importance of turning out to public meetings and expressing their views publicly, as numerous data center proposals have been rejected or withdrawn in southeastern Pennsylvania in recent months following overwhelmingly negative public feedback.

The full application can be viewed here.