Big Beaver Borough, Beaver County
Switch, Ltd. has filed preliminary plans for three data center buildings, with room shown for two more, on the 384-acre former Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Big Beaver Borough. The borough is reviewing the plan, and council has until December 18, 2026 to decide.
On September 16, 2025, Big Beaver Borough Council voted 6-0 to adopt zoning amendments under Ordinance 245 and a LERTA tax abatement ordinance covering the Industrial and commercial districts. The track's sale and closure were announced in October 2025, residents asked council for a moratorium on October 21, and the track closed November 9, 2025. In December 2025, a petition to repeal or replace Ordinance 245 was reported to council with more than 600 signatures. Wampum I, LLC completed its $50 million purchase in March 2026, and Switch and borough staff held an administrative meeting April 13. Switch announced the campus April 30 and held a town hall June 2, where police turned away reporters, and opponents held their own town hall June 29. Switch filed preliminary land development plans July 7 and its DEP stormwater application July 9. Council approved a curative amendment resolution August 4, which its special counsel said won't apply to Switch. The Beaver County Planning Commission issued comments August 18, Switch's notice of intent came before the borough Planning Committee August 27 in a meeting the crowd forced outdoors, and revised plans arrived in September. On October 2, Switch agreed to give council until December 18, 2026 to decide, and the borough engineer issued his review October 11.
Update, October 26, 2026. On October 20, 2026 borough council's agenda listed a presentation on the curative amendment ordinance, motions to send that ordinance to the borough and county planning commissions and advertise a December 1, 2026 public hearing, a $49,700 contract with EPD for community input on grants and any community benefits agreement, and adoption of Ordinance No. 250 amending the zoning ordinance. On October 22, 2026 Switch's preliminary plans were on the agenda of the newly appointed borough Planning Commission, which wasn't scheduled to act on them, and the presentation Switch posted for that meeting describes three buildings of about 215,000 square feet each, air-cooled closed-loop chillers, one Tier 4 backup generator per building, estimated daily water use of 2,000 to 2,500 gallons and a will-serve letter from the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority for up to 7,200 gallons a day.
The borough engineer counts 75 diesel emergency generators per building, each with 10,000 gallons of fuel, or about 2.25 million gallons for the first three buildings. He asks Switch to plan for spills and for protecting drinking water wells nearby, and suggests sharing its spill plan, still marked draft, with New Beaver Township, Lawrence County and county emergency management.
Big Beaver Borough (Daniel J. Martone, Borough Engineer and Zoning Officer)Switch's consultant, Acentech, measured average background sound near the property line of about 41 dBA by day and 39 dBA at night, and modeled the 216 chillers at up to 55.6 dBA at receiver points near the property line. That's well under the borough's 75 dBA limit but slightly above Switch's own 55 dBA goal at one point, and generator noise during outages and testing is exempt from the limit.
Big Beaver BoroughData Center Dynamics reports the filings show 270 MW of backup generator capacity. DEP's tracker shows the air quality plan approval needed to build the generators hasn't been applied for yet, and Switch told residents it would use Tier 4 generators.
Data Center DynamicsSwitch has filed a traffic scoping application with PennDOT for the Pendale Road and Route 18 intersection and plans a new driveway onto Fairlane Boulevard. The borough engineer says a full traffic impact study and construction traffic control plan are required for final approval.
Big Beaver Borough (Daniel J. Martone, Borough Engineer and Zoning Officer)Switch told residents the project would create 1,500 to 2,000 construction jobs and 80 to 100 full-time jobs once running, and that benefits would lag until full build-out.
Beaver County RadioSwitch's lawyer says the campus would draw about 9,000 gallons a day from the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority's 12-inch main fed by the on-site water tower, plus an initial fill of the closed-loop cooling system, and that existing on-site wells would be capped. Neighbors on private wells remain worried about groundwater.
Big Beaver BoroughSwitch says it will pay for its own power infrastructure without passing costs to consumers. The borough engineer has asked Switch to show it complies with Executive Order 2026-05 and to verify it's paying all costs of utility upgrades.
Big Beaver Borough (Daniel J. Martone, Borough Engineer and Zoning Officer)Leaders: Dan Dennehy-Rodriguez
Tactics: Speaking at council meetings, a petition to repeal or replace Ordinance 245, and a June 29, 2026 town hall with environmental, legal and legislative speakers
WPXI says the group was formed by supporters of the former track. Dennehy-Rodriguez asked council for a permanent moratorium in October 2025 and reported the petition's 600-plus signatures in December 2025. We couldn't find a website, social page or petition link.
Tactics: Co-hosted the June 29, 2026 town hall and speaks at council meetings
WPXI calls it the Big Beaver Association, and July 7, 2026 borough minutes refer to the Big Beaver Alliance, which a member described as focused on opposing the proposed data center. We couldn't find a website or social page.
Council approved a resolution starting a curative amendment, which allows 180 days to adopt zoning changes. Special counsel Don Graham told council it was started after Switch's application arrived and won't apply to it, and that he saw no defect in how the ordinance treats data centers.
Big Beaver Borough · Pending. Council's October 20, 2026 agenda listed motions to send the curative amendment ordinance to the borough and county planning commissions and to advertise a December 1, 2026 public hearing.Switch asked the borough to treat its plans as confidential under Right-to-Know Law exemptions and trade secret law, citing security risks, and asked for notice before any release so it could seek legal remedies.
Switch, Ltd.; Big Beaver Borough · The borough has posted the application package, including plan sets and reports, on its website.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 →