Conshohocken Borough wants a seat at the table in Plymouth Township's zoning fight over a proposed nearly 2-million-square-foot data center on the former Cleveland Cliffs steel plant site at 900 Conshohocken Road.
Borough council members voted unanimously on Wednesday, July 15, to seek formal party status in the Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board case. If granted, the borough would gain the legal right to present evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal any board decision on the project filed by 900 Conshohocken, LLC.
The move was prompted by resident Christine Bertino, who presented a petition signed by borough residents and argued that the borough's attorney could better represent the community than individual residents trying to cross-examine expert witnesses on their own. Bertino was joined by several other residents at the meeting.
Borough solicitor Michael Peters of Eastburn & Gray will represent Conshohocken in the proceedings. Council must take a formal vote on Wednesday, August 5, to make the intervention official.
A growing list of parties
Conshohocken Borough would join a crowded field already granted standing at the board's initial procedural hearing on Thursday, June 25. Those parties include Plymouth Township itself, represented by attorney Gregory Heleniak of Clarke Gallagher Barbiero Amuso & Glassman Law; several entities tied to Paul Tornetta, owner of Tee's Golf Center and The Proving Grounds near the site; Daniel and Lynne Campbell, who own two nearby residential properties; the Borough of Conshohocken Authority, which operates the sewer system; and 12 of 13 nearby property owners who applied for standing.
Plymouth Township Council has publicly opposed the application. In a statement released ahead of the June 25 hearing, the council said protections are "reasonable and necessary for a project of this magnitude" and pledged to continue opposing the application unless enforceable safeguards are added.
Activists have also mobilized against the project, running billboard trucks around Plymouth and Whitemarsh ahead of the June 25 hearing and collecting what organizers say are thousands of petition signatures. The activist campaign claims families on the local electrical grid could pay $70 more per month if the data center is built, though that figure has not been independently verified.
What happens next
The Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board will hold a brief procedural meeting on Tuesday, July 28, solely to consider a motion to continue the hearing. No testimony or public comment will be taken that night.
The substantive hearing on the data center application is scheduled for Thursday, August 6, at 7 p.m. at Colonial Middle School, 716 Belvoir Road, Plymouth Meeting. The hearing was rescheduled to allow additional time for parties who have been granted standing to prepare.
