Lower Towamensing Township and Bowmanstown Borough, Carbon County
DTA Alliance has challenged Lower Towamensing's zoning to allow about 4.5 million square feet of data centers on roughly 700 acres, plus a building in Bowmanstown, with a hearing pushed to mid-December.
On Sept. 1, 2026, DTA Alliance and Murphy's Meadow filed a validity challenge and landowner curative amendment with Lower Towamensing Township. On Sept. 10 about 20 people attended a township planning commission meeting where Connor called the drawing conceptual and said a power plant would most likely use natural gas. On Sept. 15 supervisors unanimously hired Graham Simmons III of Norris McLaughlin as special counsel. Palmerton Borough Council discussed the plan on Sept. 24. About 100 people attended a Save Carbon County organizing meeting at the Palmerton Area Library on Oct. 1. On Oct. 6 DTA filed a curative amendment in Bowmanstown for a 375,000 square foot building on 55 acres, and the same night Lower Towamensing's solicitor announced the Oct. 27 hearing would be continued at the applicant's request to the week of Dec. 14. On Oct. 11 Save Carbon County told supporters the hearing had moved to Dec. 14 and posted tips for giving testimony, and on Oct. 13 the township planning commission held a special meeting to keep working on its own revised data center criteria and decibel limits.
The filing reserves areas for a power generation facility, and DTA's operations manager said it would most likely run on natural gas. Save Carbon County says the site map shows two gas or diesel generators that would run around the clock.
Times NewsResidents worried about new wells, and a Palmerton councilman said the project could affect the borough's water supply. Hoodline notes the filings don't establish a water source or withdrawals.
HoodlineResidents at the Sept. 10 planning commission meeting warned of a 24-hour hum from the buildings.
Times NewsThe campus footprint wraps around four private homes and borders housing in Bowmanstown and West Palmerton, and residents raised property values at the first public meeting.
Times NewsThe filing describes steep, mostly forested mountainside and ridge land above the Lehigh River valley, now zoned Resort & Recreation and Rural Conservation.
Lower Towamensing TownshipThe township filing claims about 30 full-time jobs per building, or about 390 in all.
Lower Towamensing TownshipLeaders: Linda Christman, president
Tactics: Organizing meetings, leafleting, yard signs, training residents to testify, monitoring the township's data center ordinance work, calling for a statewide moratorium
About 100 people attended its Oct. 1 meeting at the Palmerton Area Library. The donate_url field points to the group's Join page.
Claims the zoning ordinance is defective because it allows data centers nowhere in the township and proposes an overlay allowing them over the Resort & Recreation and Rural Conservation districts.
DTA Alliance LLC and Murphy's Meadow LLC v. Lower Towamensing Township · Hearing continued at applicant's request from Oct. 27 to the week of Dec. 14, 2026Claims the borough ordinance fails to provide for data centers and proposes an overlay allowing them as a conditional use on 55 acres near Ore and Ridge streets in the Open Space Residential district.
DTA Alliance LLC and Murphy's Meadow LLC v. Bowmanstown Borough · Filed; hearing not yet reportedIn Pennsylvania, the local zoning ordinance sets the route. A conditional use is decided by the elected governing body (supervisors, commissioners or council). A special exception or variance, and an appeal of a zoning officer’s decision, go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Each is a public hearing on a record: affected neighbors can ask for party status, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal. Municipalities can also adopt data center ordinances with enforceable standards.
Know your rights →Organized community opposition is the single most effective check on these projects in Pennsylvania. Show up to hearings, submit comment when it is taken, support legal and expert-witness costs, and press your municipality for a real ordinance. Pennsylvania municipalities cannot simply freeze applications, but a curative amendment under the Planning Code gives them a defined window to fix a defective ordinance.
How communities push back →