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Withdrawn / Denied

Inch & Co. South Annville

South Annville Township, Lebanon County

Inch & Co. and landowner Eastern Land & Resources proposed five data center buildings totaling about 750,000 square feet on 99 acres off U.S. Route 422 in South Annville Township, Lebanon County, then withdrew the rezoning request in May 2026 after strong local opposition.

Withdrawn / DeniedLargeTBD/UndisclosedGreenfieldS Central
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusWithdrawn
Building area750,000 sq ft
Site99 acres
Capex$ 1.7 B
Permanent jobs, as claimed100
First announced2026-03-11
Target onlineTBD

South Annville's $1.7 billion data center plan was dropped, and the township has written its own rules

The number that mattersThe developer withdrew one day before the supervisors' meeting and a week after the planning commission voted 6-0 against recommending the rezoning.
Developer
1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC, a joint venture of York-based Inch & Co. and Eastern Land & Resources Co. (MFS, Inc.), which owns the land. Joe Eisenhauer, Inch & Co.'s vice president of development, presented the plan, and attorney Jonathan D. Andrews of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC represented the petitioner.
Tenant
No tenant was ever named. The developer said the project was still at the concept stage when it was withdrawn.
Current stage
Withdrawn on May 12, 2026, the day before supervisors were due to take it up. The township then adopted a data center zoning ordinance, Ordinance #10-14-26, on October 14, 2026.
Decision body
South Annville Township Board of Supervisors, which had final say on the rezoning and would have held a conditional use hearing. The township planning commission and the Lebanon County Planning Department review and advise.
Top issues
Noise, including low-frequency sound and infrasound, effects on electric rates, water use and a plan to reuse treated sewage plant effluent, property values, sinkholes, a bald eagle nest on the property, loss of farmland, and traffic from realigning Mount Pleasant Road at Route 422.
Key opponents
A resident-led grassroots effort with petition and letter-writing committees, which reported more than 500 signatures plus an online petition, held a protest along U.S. Route 422 on May 2, 2026 and filled township meetings. All who spoke at the April 7 planning commission session and the April 8 supervisors' meeting opposed the plan, according to LebTown.
Key supporters
The developer was the main public voice for the project. It pointed to estimated annual taxes of about $13 million for the Annville-Cleona School District, $3 million for Lebanon County and $750,000 for the township, and said it wouldn't seek a tax abatement.

How we got here

On March 11, 2026, supervisors forwarded the petition from 1235 Martina Drive Owner LLC to the planning commission and county planning department; it sought about 58 acres of new I-1 industrial zoning across four parcels totaling about 99 acres and would have allowed data centers only by conditional use. The developer described a $1.7 billion campus of five 150,000 square foot buildings to LebTown on April 7, the same day 60 to 70 people attended a planning commission session where everyone who spoke was opposed. Two dozen residents spoke against it at the April 8 supervisors' meeting, and the developer briefed Lebanon County commissioners on April 15. About 50 people protested along Route 422 on May 2. The planning commission voted 6-0 on May 5 to recommend denial, and the developer withdrew by letter on May 12. Supervisors authorized a data center ordinance on July 8 and adopted Ordinance #10-14-26 unanimously on October 14, 2026.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Environmental justice and site legacy

Medium

Rezoning of 58 acres of farmland (with bald-eagle nests) to industrial near homes and US-422; a central rallying point before withdrawal.

LebTown

Noise and vibration

Medium

The developer said the buildings would be 50 feet tall with a 10-foot parapet hiding rooftop blower fans, chillers and generators, behind 8- to 10-foot berms, and would emit 45 to 55 decibels. Residents and a Lebanon Valley College epidemiologist raised concerns about low-frequency sound and infrasound.

LebTown

Water

Medium

The developer described a closed-loop chilled water system with air-cooled chillers, public water from Pennsylvania American Water, and a plan to use about 100,000 gallons a day of the roughly 700,000 gallons of treated effluent from the nearby Annville Township Authority sewage plant to fill the cooling loops.

LebTown

Property values

Medium

At the April 7, 2026 planning commission session, a real estate company founder urged officials to commission a study of the data center's effect on nearby home values, and residents raised property values at later meetings.

LebTown

Traffic

Low

The township required realigning Mount Pleasant Road at U.S. Route 422 as a condition, which the developer said would need a PennDOT traffic impact study and highway occupancy permit; the developer said truck traffic would be minimal.

LebTown
Community response

Who is organizing against it

South Annville residents (Michael Schroeder-led)

Single-project · Founded 2026 · 500+ signatures

Leaders: Michael Schroeder (organizer)

Tactics: Petition (500+ signatures), Route 422 rallies (May 2 2026), packed supervisor/planning meetings (160+ on Apr 8), bald-eagle-nest and farmland framing

Grass-roots opposition that helped force withdrawal of the $1.7B Inch & Co. South Annville campus (P028) in May 2026.

Website

Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2026-03-11Inch & Co. South Annville rezoning forwarded
  • 2026-04-07About 60 to 70 people attended the planning commission's information session, and everyone who spoke opposed the data center. LebTown
  • 2026-04-08South Annville opposition meeting
  • 2026-04-15Inch & Co. briefed Lebanon County commissioners at a workshop session packed mostly with project opponents. LebTown
  • 2026-05-02About 50 people protested the proposed data center along U.S. Route 422. LebTown
  • 2026-05-05Planning Commission votes unanimously against recommending rezoning LebTown
  • 2026-05-12Developer withdraws South Annville rezoning petition the day before supervisors' vote LebTown
  • 2026-05-13Supervisors read the withdrawal letter, and residents asked the township to define and regulate data centers in its zoning ordinance. LebTown
  • 2026-07-08Supervisors unanimously authorized the township solicitor to draft a zoning ordinance regulating data centers. LebTown
  • 2026-09-09The draft data center ordinance was under county and planning commission review and set to be advertised for a public hearing. LebTown
  • 2026-10-14Supervisors unanimously adopted Ordinance #10-14-26, a zoning ordinance regulating data centers. LebTown
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

Know your rights

In 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 →

Take action

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 →