Forward Township, Butler County
A first-time data center developer wants a 1 million-square-foot campus and a 300 to 600 megawatt gas plant on a creekside valley farm in a township with no zoning. Hundreds have packed meetings, and supervisors face a Dec. 22 deadline to act.
Sherwood says his team surveyed the land for three years before 614 Prospect Road LLC filed preliminary land development plans on Aug. 24, 2026. The Butler County Planning Commission issued review comments on Sept. 17, and the township posted the plans and its engineer's review letter on Sept. 22. The 90-day review period began Sept. 23. The Sept. 24 planning commission meeting was postponed when the crowd exceeded the 100-person capacity of the township building. On Oct. 1, about 400 people came to the meeting in the township maintenance garage, and the commission voted unanimously to table the plan. On Oct. 7, Connoquenessing supervisors voted to participate under the state planning code and to draft their own data center ordinance, and on Oct. 9 they notified Forward by letter. On Oct. 8 Forward's supervisors heard residents but didn't discuss the plan, and their agenda listed a motion to advertise an update to the subdivision and land development ordinance for non-residential development. On Oct. 15 the developer delivered revised plans dated Oct. 12, including a request to allow 125 parking spaces in place of the 1,145 the ordinance requires, and the township canceled the Oct. 22 planning meeting.
Connoquenessing Creek wraps around the site on three sides. Sherwood says the project won't draw from the creek and will use a closed-loop glycol cooling system, but he hasn't named the final water source, and plans include an on-site domestic and industrial wastewater plant in a township full of private wells.
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe valley is a former strip mine and a flood zone, and residents fear fill would worsen flooding and runoff. Residents also asked for low-frequency sound studies to protect a nearby great blue heron rookery where bald eagles also nest.
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteResidents say the valley carries sound for miles and worry about constant low-frequency noise and vibration. Sherwood says noise reduction will be a significant part of the final design, and he couldn't yet say whether backup generators would be diesel or battery.
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe developer's engineers told the township that the final building and equipment layout and exact location of the 300 to 600 megawatt power plant won't be provided until final engineering plans.
Forward TownshipA 300-megawatt gas power plant growing to 600 megawatts would sit in a valley that residents say already lies between two natural gas compressor stations and a rail yard, and they asked for independent baseline air studies.
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteForward has no dedicated fire department. Connoquenessing's chair says its small volunteer company would need training for electrical and lithium battery fires and lacks a ladder truck.
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteNeighbors who farm about two miles away worry about noise, their cattle and their property values.
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteIn the revised plans the stormwater release rate was cut to 90% of pre-development rates, and the FEMA floodplain boundary along Connoquenessing Creek, which surrounds the property, is used as the creek's drainage easement. The on-site sewage and wastewater treatment plans still need DEP approval.
Forward TownshipThe plans relocate the access driveway to an existing PennEnergy gas well pad, and the applicant says it will keep 24-hour, seven-day access to the pad and wants to defer PennEnergy's written approval until final plans.
Forward TownshipTactics: Organizing residents for meetings; fundraising for legal representation and public awareness; signs and turnout at planning meetings.
Informal group whose leaders declined to speak on the record. Its GoFundMe, titled Residents Against Misty Hollow Data Center, showed $1,120 raised toward a $2,600 goal from 21 donations when checked Oct. 18, 2026. A separate paper petition at the Oct. 1 meeting had passed 2,300 signatures, per the Post-Gazette.
Tactics: Online petition focused on a heron rookery and bald eagle nest on a Connoquenessing Creek island near the site.
Signature count as displayed on Oct. 18, 2026.
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 →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 →