Residents give notice of intent to sue East Whiteland and developer over 1.5 million square foot data center project
A group of residents sent an eight-page letter, which argues that there were violations of township ordinances in approving the plan for a 1.5 million square foot data center project.
East Whiteland residents are teeing up a lawsuit against the township, its elected officials, and a developer over an approved 1.5 million-square-foot data center project, if concerns outlined in a letter sent Tuesday are not addressed “immediately and substantially.”
The notice, which argues that there were violations of township ordinances in approving the plan, comes after East Whiteland United, a group of community members, retained attorney Philip S. Rosenzweig to represent them earlier this month.
It’s another attempt by residents to halt the development of the data center, slated for the 79-acre Cyprus Foote Mineral Co. property, a Superfund site that sits at the border of East and West Whiteland Townships.
An attempt to appeal the land use was quashed by a Chester County judge earlier this year, but residents have not taken their foot off the gas in their opposition to the project.
The township manager declined to comment. The township board chair and a representative for the developer did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The eight-page notice — published on the resident group’s website and sent to the township, its three-member elected board, and developers Green Fig and Sentinel Data Centers — says its basis to sue rests on several factors.
Those include a letter from Aqua America, a public water company, indicating it could not meet the data center’s water needs and new permit applications that seek to modify the design “impermissibly.” It also argues that an environmental impact assessment of it was “fraudulent and incomplete,” and that the developer has “circumvented” municipal planning code requirements.
The data center, which secured early approvals from township officials in 2018 and 2024, saw increased scrutiny from the community this past year, when its developers sought to expand its footprint and update their plans.
With data centers more top of mind now than they were before, residents began showing up to meetings in large numbers, growing more vocal — and more organized. The project even prompted residents to push for adding more supervisors to the board in November’s election.
The developers abandoned efforts to update their proposal after the vehement outcry, instead deciding to build the previously approved plan. As preliminary construction work has begun, the developers have been issued two stop work orders over concerns with permitting.
Last week, officials voted to hire a PR firm as it grapples with increased information requests.
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