Council members in Archbald, Pennsylvania, have voted down Texas-based Provident Realty Advisors’ application to build a giant data center after months of growing public outcry against plans to build several of the computing facilities in the borough of about 7,500 people. 

About 200 local residents showed up for the March 27 special meeting held at 1 p.m., many wearing yellow shirts, to register their opposition to the projects, according to local news reports. The crowd erupted in applause after Tamara Misewicz-Healey, a leader of the local movement calling for stricter data center zoning limits, listed a series of arguments for the council to deny Provident Realty Advisors permission to build the proposed computing cluster of 18 buildings, known as Archbald 1 LLC. 

“I’ve never heard roars like this except for a basketball game,” said newly appointed Archbald Borough Council President Louis Rapoch (R), seated with other council members in an old gymnasium on the third floor of Archbald Borough Building.

Archbald Borough Council had hastily convened the March 27 vote, after it was legally required to cancel a March 23 public hearing on the project after the local newspaper made an error in printing a notice of it.

Since Provident Realty Advisors did not agree to reschedule the March 23 hearing, Archbald needed to vote on the project by the close of business on March 27, or the data center zoning application would have been automatically approved, in line with provisions under Pennsylvania state law.

At the March 27 special meeting, residents questioned the Texas-based developer’s decision not to reschedule the hearing, where it had planned to present further information about the project, and locals were due to speak about their concerns over its potential impacts.

“This doesn’t quite fit the ‘good neighbor’ rhetoric we continue to be fed,” said Archbald resident Janessa Bednash during the public comments section of the meeting.

Residents also voiced concerns over noise, air, and light pollution, potential falls in property values, destruction of wildlife habitat, and the project’s demands for water and power.

“Is this development or is this exploitation?” Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan (D), who has called for a three-year statewide moratorium on new data center approvals, asked at the meeting.

Archbald resident Larry West cited a March 11 DeSmog investigation that revealed how borough officials had worked with developers, including Provident Realty Advisors, to draft new zoning regulations to pave the way for data centers. The rules were passed on November 24 last year by Archbald Borough Council in a 5-2 vote.

The findings in the DeSmog investigation, which followed months of local outcry against data centers, prompted Archbald residents to launch a petition demanding local officials resign. Archbald Borough previously defended the process used to rewrite zoning rules for data centers, saying that they had not ceded to blanket provisions sought by developers, and that a new provision allowed the borough council to have final say in voting on proposed data centers. 

Amid increasing public pressure over its stance on data centers, Archbald Borough Council voted to change its leadership at a March 18 council meeting, with Rapoch — who was one of three new members to join the council earlier this year — taking over Dave Moran’s role as council president. 

Moran was absent from the March 27 data center vote, as was Richard Guman (D), who voted for the highly contested November 24 zoning amendment.

Provident Realty Advisors did not immediately respond to questions about whether it would appeal Archbald Borough’s decision, or attempt to pursue its project under a previous October 2025 zoning application, which did not require a special vote for approval. The developers’ initial application included 22 buildings across two sites, but was restricted by height and sound parameters in line with the borough’s zoning rules at that time.

Archbald is expected to vote on two more data center projects in the coming weeks and months — among five announced in the borough in 2025 across six sites — making it one of the most hotly contested municipalities for data centers in the country.