Data center proves a tough sell at Elizabeth Township town hall

In between jeers and boos from an audience of Elizabeth Township residents, a Bucks County-based developer laid out an initial concept for a sprawling data center campus on a 549-acre former landfill bordering the Youghigheny River on Tuesday night.

Tim Hendricks, a New Hope resident, told attendees that he hopes to develop a 20-building data center campus and associated natural gas power plant at a township-organized town hall meeting. Communications between Hendricks and local officials obtained by Pittsburgh’s Public Source last week revealed several project plans presented to the township over the summer.

Those plans for a 549-acre parcel on Henderson Road near the Youghiogheny River included anywhere from 11 to 28 two-story data center buildings. They were met with opposition from some residents and advocates last week, and hesitancy from the local state representative.

Hendricks provided few specific details regarding the final size, scope and environmental impact of the project at the town hall, stressing that the project was still in its development phase. 

“A project like this obviously has an impact on the community, everybody knows that,” Hendricks said. “We don’t know anything about what’s going to get approved.” Hendricks has not formally submitted any plans to the township or applied for any permits.

“Frankly, Elizabeth Township deserves better than another sales pitch about how an industrial project is going to save this community,” said Joelle Whiteman, a township resident and local organizer for the D.C.-based advocacy organization Food & Water Watch, in an interview prior to the meeting.

Whiteman is also a member of Protect Elizabeth Township, an environmental advocacy organization that was originally formed to oppose a power plant previously intended for the site. Whiteman, who has been collecting signatures for a petition to stop the development, said she has signed up 350 residents.

Attendees, who nearly filled most of the Elizabeth Forward Middle School auditorium, raised questions regarding the water and energy demands of the site, its proximity to houses in the area, the planned natural gas plant and noise concerns. Many in the crowd held signs and wore pins opposing the project.

The crowd applauded after one resident shouted, “We don’t want this.”

Hendricks said he couldn’t provide specific numbers regarding the site’s water and electricity usage, but said that there was “no way” the site would have an impact on residents’ electricity bills. He also said it would use less water than “typical factories.”

The data center buildings would be 2,000 feet away from the nearest homes in the township, a community of manufactured homes called Rolling Hills Village.

Noise “will not exceed anything that exists today,” Hendricks said. “Everything is designed so far back from the homes that we don’t have [noise] as an issue.”

Hendricks said the data center buildings would be around 150,000 square feet each, which would total 3 million square feet, dwarfing a planned site in Springdale Borough opposed by some local residents. 

“We’re at step one, maybe step two. There’s probably 100 steps,” Hendricks said, adding that he hadn’t previously attended a meeting this early on in a data center process. He said he’d have to obtain permits from the township, state and potentially the Federal government.

State official not convinced

State Rep. Andrew Kuzma, R-Elizabeth Township, previously expressed hesitation about some aspects of the project. In an interview after the meeting, he said he is opposed to the project in its entirety.

“There is no end user, there are no facts that are in writing and it’s apparent a majority of the residents are against it,” said Kuzma.

At the meeting, Hendricks said he was in discussion with end users but did not identify them. Hendricks said his role in the development is to identify the property and obtain all the required permits and approvals. Another person or company would build and operate the property, he said. 

The proposal became public on Sept. 15, when township commission President Josh Walls announced at a commission meeting that Elizabeth had been approached about a data center project. 

Tuesday’s town hall was moderated by Eric Piper, a township redevelopment authority member, who asked selected questions submitted by residents. Piper said he received 330 questions from residents that he condensed into 45.

The site could generate $125 million in annual tax revenue for the municipality and Elizabeth Forward School District, according to Hendricks’ emails to commissioners. Hendricks reiterated the $125 million number at the town hall. 

The township expects to bring in around $10.6 million in revenue in 2026, according to its budget. The district brought in $52 million in revenue during the 2024-2025 school year.

“Everybody wants this township to be bailed out,” Whiteman said. “Seeing a number that high, I understand why some of the elected officials are like, ‘Oh, this could really save us.’”

Walls said that he could not comment on the revenue figures  because they were not prepared by the township or local taxing bodies. Walls also stressed that the development is still in the discussion phase.

“There’s a lot of residents with very, very serious concerns. Without adequate answers to those, I could not personally support this project moving forward,” he said. 

Protect Elizabeth Township is hosting a town hall on October 29 at Butler’s Golf Course on Rock Run Road, which will feature a “panel of experts” and those working against data centers in other communities

Storied site, determined developer

The site is currently owned by Buena Vista Solar, which purchased the property in 2022 for $1, and is locally known as the “Fiore Property” after its longtime owners, the Fiore family. 

William Fiore, who was twice convicted of hiring a hitman to kill a state environmental official, operated a landfill on the parcel for decades. He denied his charges until his death in 2012. 

Hendricks entered into an option agreement to purchase the property from Buena Vista Solar managing member David Fiore Sr. on June 19, according to Allegheny County property records. He said that he chose the site because of its proximity to existing power and gas lines.

The proposed Elizabeth Township data center would be the fourth data center effort Hendricks is involved in and his first in Western Pennsylvania. 

Hendricks entered a similar agreement to purchase 705 acres in Penn Forest in Carbon County, for a planned data center development there, but declined to discuss it and his other data center projects last week. He did not name the three other projects at the town hall.

Hendricks said that he is no longer involved with the Penn Forest development. 

“I feel exactly as I felt before the meeting. I knew what was going to come out of it,” Whiteman said after the meeting. “I love to see the community coming together and being heard … I hope the commissioners listen.”

Lucas Dufalla is the Southern Communities Reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at lucas@publicsource.org.