900 Conshohocken Road Data Center (O'Neill)

A gas-fired power plant next to a neighborhood, and a developer who has stopped negotiating

Developer

MLP Ventures (J. Brian O'Neill) via 900 Conshohocken Road LLC

Tenant

Undisclosed. O'Neill has declined to name the end user, describing it only as related to the life sciences.

Current stage

Evidentiary hearings resume September 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the Karen B. Weiss Meeting Room, with the applicant's first witness still on direct. The separate validity challenge must be heard by September 25 and no date has been announced.

Decision body

Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board

Top issues

An undisclosed-size 24/7 gas turbine plant roughly 200 feet from homes; low-frequency noise with no township cap; makeup water and Schuylkill River impacts; PJM capacity costs borne by all ratepayers; the applicant’s challenge to the zoning ordinance itself; refusal to disclose experts in advance; tenant secrecy

Key opponents

No Conshy Data Centers and twelve residents holding party status; Plymouth Township Council (solicitor authorized to oppose); Borough of Conshohocken Authority; Conshohocken Borough Council (seeking party status, vote set August 5); State Rep. Gregory Scott; Delaware Riverkeeper Network; Sierra Club Pennsylvania; Energy Justice Network

Key supporters

Gov. Shapiro (data centers generally); building trades unions (turnout)

Mill idled May 2025; closed June 30 2025 (110 jobs). 1st ZHB app Sept 19 2025; Planning Agency 4-0 against Oct 1 2025; withdrawn Nov 17 2025 (standing defect). Refiled May 1 2026; hearing set June 25 2026; Council opposed June 9 2026. First hearing held June 25 2026: party status granted to the township, the Borough of Conshohocken Authority, and 12 residents; no testimony taken; continued to July 28 with July 30 likely. Township announced July 14 2026 that the hearing is continued from July 28 to August 6 at the parties' request for additional preparation time. Conshohocken Borough Council directed its solicitor July 15 2026 to prepare a party-status request, with the authorizing vote set for August 5. July 27 2026: council publicly disclosed 43 proposed safeguards, the applicant's rejection of all of them, and the applicant's filing challenging the validity of the zoning ordinance. July 27 2026: council disclosed 43 proposed conditions offered as a memorandum of understanding, the applicant's rejection of all of them, and his substantive validity challenge to the zoning ordinance. August 6 2026: hearing resumed to a near-capacity auditorium; party status granted to the Borough of Conshohocken and six individuals, Norristown refused; opposing motions denied; continued to August 17 for scheduling only. UPDATE (2026-08-24): On July 21 the applicant filed a substantive validity challenge arguing the zoning ordinance fails to provide for data centers, running it in the alternative to the pending special exception in what land-use counsel describe as a dual-track strategy. The township deemed that application complete on July 27, which requires hearings on it to begin by September 25. On July 27 the Township Council said publicly that the applicant walked back conditions from a 43-point list the council had presented, with Council President Lynne Viscio saying the township would not be bullied or intimidated; the developer told reporters he had accepted most of the conditions. At the August 6 session the applicant's planner testified that data centers share the characteristics of manufacturing, research and development, and warehousing, all listed uses, and counsel Edmund Campbell argued that a project similar in character to a listed use is entitled to that use. On August 17 the board voted to continue the matter to September 17 at 7:00 p.m. and to move the evidentiary hearings from the 750-seat Colonial Middle School auditorium to the Karen B. Weiss Meeting Room, which seats roughly 200, with livestream and an overflow viewing room at the Greater Plymouth Community Center. UPDATE (2026-09-10): The applicant's first witness on August 6 was Richard Roseberry, a senior principal at Colliers Engineering and Design, whose qualification as an expert was challenged by counsel for several parties and accepted by the board. Motions challenging the adequacy of the application were denied. The session ran nearly two and a half hours and ended before his direct testimony was complete, so no party has yet cross-examined him. O'Neill did not attend, and told the Inquirer afterward that if the township does not work with him in good faith he intends to get the use by right, which is the validity challenge stated plainly. The petition against the project passed 4,000 signatures in early August. On August 7 the township launched a Data Center Information page collecting livestreams, statements, and filings. As of September 10 the township has posted no date for the validity challenge hearing, which must open by September 25.

• 2023-11-01State staff confirm internally that a decline notice was sent on O’Neill’s funding request, on an email chain circulating the headline "Unpaid contractors file more than $125M in liens against Discovery Labs" Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (RTK release)
• 2025-05-07Cleveland-Cliffs announces idling of Conshohocken steel mill Cleveland-Cliffs
• 2025-06-30Conshohocken plant ceases operations; 110 jobs lost Cleveland-Cliffs
• 2025-07-01Internal email from Chief Transformation Officer Ben Kirshner to state economic development leadership: "I can’t remember a day where Brian hasn’t called me multiple times regarding the data center site we’ve been working on together for several months," describing arranging a meeting with PECO leadership in the Governor’s Philadelphia office and "helping Brian secure at least a term sheet so that he can lock in Digital Realty" Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (RTK release)
• 2025-08-04900 Conshohocken Road listed by Binswanger commercial broker
• 2025-09-04O’Neill emails Chief Transformation Officer Ben Kirshner seeking "fast track treatment from DEP" for the Cleveland-Cliffs site and describes building "an 800 megawatt power plant" at a $1 billion additional cost; Kirshner replies at 4:37 p.m. the same day, "I just sent in the request to DEP" Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (RTK release)
• 2025-09-19Plymouth Twp receives 1st 900 Conshohocken Rd ZHB application Plymouth Township
• 2025-10-01Plymouth Twp Planning Agency votes 4-0 against O'Neill 900 Conshohocken Rd Plymouth Township
• 2025-11-17O'Neill 900 Conshohocken Rd ZHB application withdrawn after Cleveland-Cliffs disputes standing
• 2025-12-26O’Neill emails Michael Tierney, a lawyer then serving at the U.S. State Department, asking whether there is "any flexibility in that 25-ton number," the threshold at which a new source of VOCs or nitrogen oxides in the five southeastern counties becomes a major facility. He states emission reduction credits are unavailable in the region, asks whether the EPA can provide waivers, proposes a strategy "in partnership with the EPA," and describes the standards as put in during the "green movement." He presses for speed with a transaction he values at ten to twenty billion dollars due to close in six days DeSmog
• 2026-01-05Tierney forwards the request to Matthew Wurst, chief of staff to the chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, thanking him for arranging a meeting DeSmog
• 2026-01-07The commission and MLP Ventures meet by video call, twelve days after the original request. The Shapiro administration says Tierney never disclosed his federal employment in its conversations with him DeSmog
• 2026-02-02Plymouth Twp moratorium 2nd Change.org petition launched Change.org
• 2026-05-01O'Neill refiles 900 Conshohocken Rd ZHB application Plymouth Township
• 2026-05-05Inquirer Plymouth Twp follow-up coverage Plymouth Township
• 2026-05-28Plymouth Twp announces 900 Conshohocken ZHB hearing for June 25 2026 at Colonial Middle School MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-06-09Council authorizes solicitor to oppose 900 Conshohocken application at ZHB Patch
• 2026-06-25900 Conshohocken ZHB hearing opens: party-status requests + initial testimony (no public comment this date) MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-06-25First ZHB hearing: party status granted to the township, the Borough of Conshohocken Authority, and 12 residents; no testimony taken; continued to July 28 with a July 30 session likely MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-07-14Hearing continued from July 28 to August 6 at the request of parties, "to allow additional time for participation by the parties"; the board meets July 28 only to vote the continuance, and testimony begins August 6 at 7 PM at Colonial Middle School Plymouth Township
• 2026-07-15After a resident petition, borough council directs its solicitor (Michael Peters, Eastburn & Gray) to prepare a request for party status before the Plymouth ZHB; the authorizing vote is set for August 5, the night before testimony begins Borough of Conshohocken
• 2026-07-21Substantive validity challenge filed against the Plymouth Township zoning ordinance, with a relief clause seeking exemption from noise limits and "any and all other zoning relief necessary," without limitation Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (RTK release)
• 2026-07-21Developer files substantive validity challenge to the zoning ordinance, in the alternative to the pending special exception MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-07-27Council publicly discloses that it presented the applicant 43 health and safety conditions, that the applicant rejected them, and that the applicant has filed a challenge to the validity of the township zoning ordinance; council states it will continue to oppose the special exception and any ordinance challenge Plymouth Township
• 2026-07-27Applicant files a second application challenging the validity of the Plymouth Township zoning ordinance (substantive validity challenge), disclosed publicly by council the same day Patch
• 2026-07-27Council reveals it presented the applicant a 43-point list of health and safety conditions, including a 500-foot separation for mechanical equipment, a 100-foot planted buffer, octave-band noise limits down to 16 hertz, closed-loop cooling with no Schuylkill River withdrawal or discharge, a decommissioning bond, and a public monitoring portal; the conditions were offered as a memorandum of understanding rather than an ordinance, and the applicant declined to sign Patch
• 2026-07-27Validity challenge application deemed complete, starting the 60-day clock to open hearings by Sept 25 PHL17 (WPHL)
• 2026-07-27Council states the developer walked back agreed conditions from its 43-point list and says it will not entertain theatrics Plymouth Township Council
• 2026-07-30Preliminary Environmental Noise Assessment dated July 30 but not circulated to the public until after the August 6 hearing adjourned. Its passing scenario depends on sound attenuation products for the project’s 227 chillers that do not currently exist; it models six generators on a tract across Conshohocken Road (Tract 2) that no application before the board covers, feeding a microgrid of undisclosed megawatts; it is silent on three of the four neighboring municipalities; and it concedes that conditions at the site cannot be reproduced for future measurement Auxia Design
• 2026-07-31The Governor's official account responds to the validity challenge: "This is the exact wrong way to do development here in Pennsylvania. I'm a hell no." The statement follows more than two years in which the Governor's Office of Transformation and Opportunity worked with the developer on the site Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania
• 2026-08-04Applicant releases 4ward Planning economic impact study claiming $424M in local tax revenue over 20 years MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-08-06Hearing resumes before a 750-seat auditorium filled nearly to capacity. Party status granted to the Borough of Conshohocken, five nearby residents, and a Whitemarsh man citing family medical conditions; Norristown is refused on the reasoning that its concern is general rather than specific. Opposing attorneys challenge the adequacy of the application and the qualifications of the applicant’s witness, Richard Roseberry of Colliers Engineering and Design; the board denies the motions. No testimony is completed and the matter is continued to August 17 for scheduling only MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-08-06The developer tells reporters he has agreed to about 90 percent of the township’s demands, attributes opposition to bad information from bad actors, and says of the validity challenge that if the township does not work with him in good faith he intends to get it by right Philadelphia Inquirer
• 2026-08-06Hearing resumes before a nearly full auditorium, Borough of Conshohocken and six individuals granted party status, Norristown denied MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-08-06Applicant's planner Richard Roseberry of Colliers qualified as an expert over objections; motions on the adequacy of the application denied; session ends before his testimony concludes and before cross-examination WHYY
• 2026-08-07Township launches a Data Center Information webpage as the central source for the proceeding Plymouth Township
• 2026-08-17Scheduling session, no testimony that night, September testimony dates expected MoreThanTheCurve
• 2026-08-17Board votes to continue to Sept 17 and to relocate the evidentiary hearings to the Karen B. Weiss Meeting Room MoreThanTheCurve

• 2025-09-19
  ZHB application Plymouth Twp ZHB · (local)

  O'Neill ZHB application; Cleveland-Cliffs disputed standing.

  900 Conshohocken Rd LLC · Withdrawn Nov 17 2025; refiled May 1 2026
• 2026-05-01
  ZHB application (refiled) Plymouth Twp ZHB · (local)

  Second special-exception application; quasi-judicial hearing scheduled to span multiple dates beginning June 25 2026.

  900 Conshohocken Rd LLC · Hearing set June 25 2026
• 2026-07
  Substantive validity challenge Plymouth Township / MPC Section 916.1 · n/a

  A second application challenging the validity of the Plymouth Township zoning ordinance itself, disclosed publicly by Township Council on July 27, 2026. Under MPC Section 1006-A a successful challenge can result in a court ordering the described development approved, with no deference owed to the Zoning Hearing Board or Council. Council called it 'a blatant attempt by the Applicant to demand approval by tantrum' and said it will oppose the challenge. The filing has not been published; residents have asked for the filing date, venue and grounds asserted.

  900 Conshohocken Road LLC (J. Brian O'Neill) v. Plymouth Township · Pending
• 2025-11-17
  Standing dispute / withdrawal Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board · n/a

  The first special exception application collapsed at the November 17, 2025 hearing when counsel for property owner Cleveland-Cliffs disputed the applicant’s standing, stating the sale agreement was unsigned. The application was withdrawn and refiled the following spring, dated April 19, 2026.

  Cleveland-Cliffs (counsel Heather Fine) vs. applicant · Withdrawn
• 2026-04
  RTK request Pennsylvania Office of Open Records / Governor’s Office · n/a

  Right to Know request that produced emails between O'Neill and the Shapiro administration, including a proposal that opponents appealing a data center be required to post a bond worth double the value of the project, which would functionally price out neighborhood appeals.

  Concerned Citizens of Montour County · Disclosed
• 2026-07-21
  Substantive validity challenge (detail) Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board / MPC Section 916.1 · n/a

  The petition asserts the township ordinance is unconstitutional as applied to data centers and seeks exemption from the noise limits along with "any and all other zoning relief necessary," without limitation. MoreThanTheCurve has filed a Right to Know request to obtain the document, which had not been published as of July 28.

  900 Conshohocken Road LLC v. Plymouth Township · Pending
• 2026-07-30
  Expert report (preliminary) Plymouth Township Zoning Hearing Board · n/a

  Preliminary Environmental Noise Assessment. Preliminary by its own title and provisional in its data. The passing scenario relies on sound attenuation products for 227 chillers that do not currently exist. Six generators are modeled on Tract 2 across Conshohocken Road, which no application before the board covers, feeding a microgrid of undisclosed total megawatts. Three of the four neighboring municipalities are absent from the analysis, and the report concedes that site conditions cannot be reproduced for future measurement.

  Auxia Design for MLP Ventures LLC · Circulated after the August 6 hearing

• 2026-08-19 MoreThanTheCurvePlymouth Township officially moves data center zoning hearings back to smaller township meeting roomBoard votes Aug 17 to continue to Sept 17 and to move hearings to the ~200-seat township room
• 2026-08-12 DeSmogPennsylvania AI Data Center Developer Asked Trump Administration Official to Help Loosen Toxic Emissions LimitsThe 25-ton threshold request and the twelve-day path to the PUC
• 2026-08-12 Chestnut Hill LocalDeveloper doubles down on data center plansO’Neill presses ahead on both Montgomery County fronts
• 2026-08-07 Philadelphia InquirerRowdy residents at Plymouth Township zoning meeting draw rebukes as they push back on big data center planLargely procedural hearing; the by-right threat; no testimony date set
• 2026-08-07 WHYYConshohocken residents shout, boo, as hearing for data center beginsRepeated interruptions and the court reporter struggling to build a record
• 2026-08-07 MoreThanTheCurveAlmost full house for Conshohocken data center hearing before Plymouth Township’s zoning hearing boardParty status outcomes and the August 17 continuance for scheduling only
• 2026-08-07 DeSmogHow Pennsylvania Governor's Office Helped Push for Huge Data Centers in the Philadelphia SuburbsThe Office of Transformation and Opportunity and the 800 MW fast-track request
• 2026-08-07 WHYYConshohocken residents shout, boo, as hearing for data center beginsApplicant's planner testifies data centers resemble manufacturing, R&D and warehousing
• 2026-08-07 The Philadelphia InquirerO'Neill: 'If they don't work with us in good faith, we're going to get it by right'Developer skips the hearing, invokes Alan Wood and Lee Tire, says he will proceed by right if talks fail
• 2026-08-07 NBC10 PhiladelphiaBoard makes no decision as data center plan faces opposition in Plymouth Twp.Nearly two and a half hours; tense atmosphere; no decision
• 2026-08-07 Plymouth TownshipTownship launches Data Center Information webpageCentral page for livestreams, statements and filings on the proceeding
• 2026-08-06 6abc Action NewsDeveloper Brian O’Neill defends Montgomery County data center proposals amid growing oppositionThe developer’s defense of both Montgomery County campuses
• 2026-08-06 NBC10 PhiladelphiaPlymouth Township data center hearing resumesThe 90 percent claim and the bad actors remark
• 2026-07-30 PHL17Tensions rise in Plymouth Township as developer challenges zoning in data center fightCouncil President Viscio: "We will not allow ourselves to be bullied or intimidated by any developer. Full stop."
• 2026-07-30 MONTCO.TodayPlymouth Twp. Data Center Fight: 43 Conditions Rejected43-point condition list; developer disputes rejecting it
• 2026-07-29 PHL17 (WPHL)Tensions rise in Plymouth Township as developer challenges zoning in data center fightValidity challenge deemed complete July 27; hearings must begin by Sept 25
• 2026-07-28 WHYYPlymouth Township pushes back against proposed Conshohocken data centerCouncil livestream; validity challenge; the $21M tax claim and the undisclosed operator
• 2026-07-28 MoreThanTheCurvePlymouth Council claims developer backed out of agreed-upon conditions on data center at former steel plantRTK requests filed for the validity challenge and for state-township communications
• 2026-07-28 WHYYPlymouth Township pushes back against proposed Conshohocken data centerCouncil president says the township will not be bullied or intimidated
• 2026-07-27 Patch'Demanding Approval By Tantrum': Plymouth Twp. Council Calls Out Data Center DeveloperFull 43-condition list published; developer rejected all and filed an ordinance validity challenge
• 2026-07-27 NBC10 PhiladelphiaPlymouth Township rejects data center after several proposals and 'temper tantrum'Broadcast coverage of the July 27 council statement
• 2026-07-22 MoreThanTheCurveNo response from Plymouth Township's council when asked about why it didn't utilize state law to implement an 180-day moratoriumThe five-month window when no application was pending and Section 609.2 was available
• 2026-07-22 MoreThanTheCurveData center developer submits substantive validity challenge to Plymouth TownshipDual-track strategy: special exception plus validity challenge in the alternative
• 2026-07-16 MoreThanTheCurveBorough of Conshohocken will seek party status for zoning hearing involving proposed data center in Plymouth TownshipCouncil agrees; formal vote August 5; solicitor Michael Peters to represent the borough
• 2026-07-14 MoreThanTheCurveZoning hearing in Plymouth Township for data center to be continued from July 28th to August 6thContinuance to August 6; board meets July 28 only to vote it
• 2026-07-13 MoreThanTheCurvePetition encourages Conshohocken's borough council to seek party status in data center zoning hearingResident petition ahead of the July 15 borough council meeting
• 2026-06-XX Metro PhiladelphiaBattle begins over proposed data center in Plymouth TownshipJune 25 demonstration and party-status fight; regional multi-site context
• 2026-06-26 MoreThanTheCurveZoning hearing for proposed data center in Conshohocken kicks off in Plymouth TownshipHearing recap: party status finalized, no testimony, next dates July 28 and likely July 30
• 2026-06-25 PHL17Neighbors oppose data center proposed in Plymouth Township ahead of zoning meetingDay-of hearing preview
• 2026-06-09 Patch (Plymouth-Whitemarsh)Plymouth Twp. Council Opposes Data Center, Cites Threat To Health And SafetyCouncil authorizes solicitor to oppose
• 2026-06-09 MoreThanTheCurvePlymouth Township's council released a statement on data center applicationCouncil statement / unanswered questions
• 2026-05-XX North Penn NowMontgomery County developer looks to state for data center guidanceO'Neill–Kirshner emails; $35.16B GW figure
• 2026-05-28 MoreThanTheCurveZoning hearing for proposed Conshohocken data center to be held June 25thHearing date set
• 2026-05-13 MoreThanTheCurveNo official role for Plymouth Township's Environmental Advisory Board in zoning hearingProcess / party status (Riverkeeper, Energy Justice, Sierra Club)
• 2026-05-05 Philadelphia InquirerControversial AI data center proposal has been resurrected outside ConshohockenResubmission context
• 2026-05-01 MoreThanTheCurveZoning application for data center at former steel plant in Conshohocken submittedRefiling
• 2025-11-18 6abc PhiladelphiaDeveloper withdraws Plymouth Township data center plan after legal issue halts zoning meetingStanding defect / withdrawal
• 2025-10-20 Patch (Plymouth-Whitemarsh)'Mysterious Big Tech': Conshy Data Center Proposal Faces Intense OppositionOpposition / petition surpasses 500