Jessup Borough, Lackawanna County
A data center planned off Sunnyside Road in Jessup, next to the Lackawanna Energy Center power plant, won conditional land development approval in June 2026. The borough is now hiring experts and special counsel for conditional use hearings on a DBT-Data application, expected in late October 2026.
By Nov. 5, 2025, Jessup's planning commission had received a land development plan from Sunnyside Rd. LLC, and council acknowledged a letter from Hourigan, Kluger and Quinn extending the review period to Feb. 14, 2026. On Dec. 10, 2025, DBT-DATA's David Tolson hosted Lackawanna County officials, including Jessup council members, on a Chamber of Commerce trip to Northern Virginia and said he hadn't yet submitted data center plans in Jessup. In February 2026 the zoning officer received a zoning compliance application from Sunnyside Road Associates and the zoning board scheduled a data center hearing, which opened March 23 and was continued at the applicant's request. Council held a noise ordinance hearing on May 6 and scheduled another for June 25. On June 3, council conditionally approved the Sunnyside Road, LLC preliminary land development plan 3-2. Council adopted the new noise and vibration ordinance 7-0 on Aug. 25. Council's Oct. 7 and Oct. 13 agendas included hiring engineering, planning, acoustical and air-quality reviewers and special counsel for the DBT Data Center conditional use application.
DEP's map point is about 200 meters from the Lackawanna Energy Center at 1000 Sunnyside Road, an electric generating facility that operates under a Title V air permit, and the borough has proposed hiring EmPower Analytics Group to review the data center's backup generators, emissions and public-health effects.
Jessup BoroughJessup rewrote its noise and vibration limits in 2026 while the project was pending; a councilman said a developer warned of 'issues' if limits were lowered, and the borough is hiring JMS Acoustics to review the data center's sound studies.
Jessup BoroughCouncil's June 2026 conditional approval requires an updated traffic impact statement for a data center.
Jessup BoroughIn 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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