Plains Township, Luzerne County
DEP's permit tracker lists an unnamed data center by a company identified only as KSR in Plains Township, Luzerne County. Township officials say they have no application and are moving to adopt a 592-acre overlay district that would decide where any data center could go.
On April 9, 2026, a motion to draft a data center zoning amendment failed 2 to 3. On April 27, the commissioners declared a curative amendment covering data centers, which froze new zoning permits for up to 180 days, and voted to hire Environmental Planning and Design. On Aug. 11, the board voted to consider an Energy and Technology overlay and a matching residential rezoning next to it, and the solicitor said no application had been received. On Sept. 10, Commissioner Biscontini said the township didn't know who wanted to buy land. On Sept. 22, residents and an attorney for a neighbor objected at a public comment meeting, FOX56 reported. A second public comment meeting on revised amendments was scheduled for Oct. 13, and the Oct. 8 agenda included retaining special counsel for data center negotiations and litigation. As of Oct. 22, DEP's tracker lists the KSR project with no applications received.
Update, October 26, 2026. On October 22, 2026 the Plains Township commissioners rejected the proposed technology and energy overlay district for data centers at a special meeting in the Wilkes-Barre Area High School cafeteria. The board said it would have a new amendment drafted and advertised that allows data centers only in the existing Industrial zone by conditional use, with a public hearing at a later date, and Chairman Thomas Shubilla said he'd abstain from future votes on the data center ordinance because of his full-time job with the state.
The proposed overlay would open about 592 acres of conservation-zoned land on the east side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, close to homes on Westminster Road and Old Pittston Boulevard, to data centers and power generation, FOX56 reported.
FOX56 (WOLF)A homeowner near the proposed overlay told officials in September 2026 that her home was valued at $1.2 million at closing and that no one will buy it now because of talk of a nearby data center overlay, according to FOX56.
FOX56 (WOLF)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 →