Stop the Proposed Data Center Near Arrowhead Lake Community

We, the undersigned Members of the Arrowhead Lake Community Association (ALCA), respectfully urge the Tobyhanna Township Zoning Hearing Board to oppose the siting of the proposed Caughbaugh Data Center approximately one mile from our residential community.

The PA Supreme Court has recognized that land use ordinances create “reasonable expectations in the resident citizenry” and people “buying homes and raising families zoned residential [have] a reasonable expectation concerning the environment in which they [are] living.” This spot zoned “overlay” threatens to destroy those reasonable expectations.

The proposed data center site is located within an environmentally sensitive area, dependent upon aquifers connected to an Exceptional Value Waterway. The scale and intensity of this project raise serious concerns about potential impacts to groundwater resources, long-term aquifer sustainability, and overall environmental integrity.

In addition, the proximity of this industrial facility to large residential populations creates significant quality-of-life concerns, including the potential for continuous noise levels, increased light pollution, and disruption of the peaceful character of the affected communities. We the residents of Arrowhead purchased our properties with the expectation that our pristine environment would never be threatened with such an overwhelming disruption.

We further believe the Data Center Overlay constitutes illegal spot zoning under Pennsylvania law, as it singles out a very small portion of Rural Residential/Open Space land for an incompatible industrial use that primarily benefits a private developer and conflicts with the Township’s Comprehensive Plan and surrounding residential zoning.

Placing this project so close to Arrowhead Lake Community Association could have lasting and detrimental consequences to our property values, environmental resources, and residents’ well-being.

We respectfully request that the Zoning Hearing Board act to protect the health, safety, environment, and quality of life of surrounding communities by opposing this improper rezoning of this parcel.

Respectfully submitted,
The Undersigned Members of Arrowhead Lake Community Association