Plymouth Township residents who want legal standing to challenge a proposed $6.45 billion data center have one chance to claim it Thursday, Sept. 17.

The Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board will hold the next evidentiary hearing on the special exception application for a roughly 2-million-square-foot data center at 900 Conshohocken Road at 7 p.m. that evening. The hearing will take place at the Karen B. Weiss Meeting Room inside the Plymouth Township Municipal Building, 700 Belvoir Road, according to a township notice.

The venue is far smaller than Colonial Middle School, where earlier hearings drew hundreds. Only a small number of public seats will be available, with priority given to parties and participants already in the proceedings.

Community organizers Ardis Lukens and Christine Bertino are urging residents to attend in person and request party status, which grants the legal right to appeal or sue if the zoning board approves the project. More than two dozen participants were granted party status when proceedings began in June, The Reporter reported.

"Because we want people to have their rights," Bertino said at a Saturday, Sept. 12, protest along Fayette Street in Conshohocken. "So if they don't ask for party status, what are you going to do if it gets approved? Then you have no right to appeal. You have no right to sue."

As we reported Sept. 14, that protest drew more than a dozen demonstrators and produced a 320-signature petition asking Conshohocken council members to seek party status in the Plymouth Township proceedings.

The venue change has drawn sharp criticism. Lukens told Mainline Media News in August that about 9,000 people live within a square mile of the proposed site. She called the move to a room one-third the size of the school auditorium inconsistent with government "for and by the people." The township said a livestream will be available at the Greater Plymouth Community Center, 2910 Jolly Road, and that public comment is expected to move to a larger venue for future proceedings.

What's at stake

MLP Ventures CEO Brian O'Neill proposes converting 10 former Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill buildings at the Conshohocken Road site into a data center campus with standby generators and gas turbines. An economic impact report projects 371 jobs by 2030 and $21.2 million in tax revenue for Colonial School District, Montgomery County, Montgomery County Community College and Plymouth Township.

O'Neill first applied in 2025, but that application was withdrawn in November 2025 after 6abc reported the developer lacked legal standing because the agreement of sale with the property owner was not finalized. The current application is O'Neill's second attempt.

Plymouth Township Council formally opposed the project on July 27. Council Chairwoman Lynne Viscio called a separate filing challenging the township's zoning ordinance "a blatant attempt by the applicant to demand approval by throwing a tantrum," according to The Reporter. The council authorized its solicitor to keep fighting both the special exception and the zoning challenge.

At the state level, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on Aug. 18, requiring data center developers to earn local approval before receiving state support and meet environmental standards, according to NBC Philadelphia. Developers who refuse face disqualification from the state sales tax exemption on data center equipment.

The Sept. 17 hearing begins at 7 p.m. at 700 Belvoir Road. Residents who want party status must attend in person. The township's data center information page has updates on the proceedings.