West Conshohocken Borough, Montgomery County
J. Brian O'Neill wants to turn a 2023 life sciences approval on a vacant 60-acre former quarry and landfill tract on Front Street in West Conshohocken into a data center campus with on-site generators, gas fuel cells and substations.
March 14, 2023: council approves the Discovery Labs conditional use 7-0. October 8, 2024: O'Neill's attorney asks the borough to allow data centers in the HI district. June 30, 2025: "Innovation 611 Data Center" concept shown to the Open Space Committee. June 9, 2026: Ordinance 2026-02 adopted. September 8, 2026: Ordinance 2026-04 adopted; solicitor reports a conditional use application received. October 16: MoreThanTheCurve reports the filing. October 13: council's agenda lists appointing special counsel for the borough on the Innovation 411 applications.
Update, October 26, 2026. On October 23, 2026 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported the application is for a three-story data center on the 60-acre Front Street site, and Borough Manager Doug Borgerson said the review is at an early stage, with any public meetings or hearings to be advertised as legally required.
The site is a former quarry, cement plant and county landfill. DEP mapping shows an abandoned county landfill on the parcel line, a cement and lime silo cleanup area beside it and a PECO manufactured gas plant disposal site within it.
Pennsylvania DEPThe application lists primary and backup generators and gas fuel cells, and the borough's ordinance requires on-site power. MLP asked in February that natural gas be allowed as the primary power source. No megawatt figure has been published.
Borough of West ConshohockenOrdinance 2026-04 sets property-line limits of 60 dB(A) and 67 dB(C) on weekdays and 50 dB(A) and 57 dB(C) from Friday night to Monday morning. The 2025 concept proposed 65 dB at the property line.
Borough of West ConshohockenAsks to amend the 2023 Discovery Labs conditional use approval to allow a computer data center campus with generators, gas fuel cells and substations.
Innovation 411 Fee Owner, LLC · Filed; hearing expected early November 2026In 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.
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