Danville, Pa. — Over 300 residents attended Wednesday's meeting of the Montour County Planning Commission with a message for its members: Say ‘No’ to rezoning.
The commission members seem to have heard the message loud and clear, when they voted 6-1 against Talen Energy's request to rezone about 870 acres of land in Anthony Township from agricultural to industrial.
Most of those attending the meeting believed that industrial designation would make way for a series of data centers and the electrical generation units necessary to power them.
The vote followed a more-than three hour meeting in which dozens people made their way to the front of the meeting room, alleging lack of transparency on Talen's part in regard to such issues as land use, cooling systems, pollution resolution, and traffic concerns.
Some expressed concerns about converting more than 350 acres of high quality farmland that would be lost should the acreage be rezoned, asking Talen to consider the rights of the citizens of northern Montour County and the sense of community farming provided.
Crowd joins in folk anthem
Toward the end of a period of public comment, two women led the group in a rousing rendition of "This Land Is Your Land," substituting areas of Montour County for original locations mentioned in the song.
The group, many clad in red as a show of solidarity against the rezoning, concluded the song with the words, "Let officials say no to rezoning, so water keeps flowing and crops keep growing. This land was made for you and me."
Shortly after the song and the presentation of a petition containing about 1,500 signatures, members of the commission voted 6-1 to recommend against the requested rezoning, with two members abstaining.
Commission members Larry Blosky, Walt Rupert, Jeff Foster, Rodney Bird, Richard Jones and Frank Dombroski voted against it. Frank Rishel voted to recommend the rezoning.
Montour County Planning Director Greg Molter said members were free to add a brief comment explaining their vote.
Those voting against recommending the zoning change said they felt Talen officials had failed to fully explain their plans and its impact on the community. Renee Goocey recused herself from the matter because of a conflict with Talen and did not participate during the discussion. Tom Benfer abstained from the vote because he lives in Anthony Township next to the Montour Preserve and has worked for 25 years in conservation.
Talen: We don't have answers yet
Talen officials opened the meeting with much the same information provided in a virtual session on Monday.
Marc Jackson, Talen Energy's director of real estate and property management, emphasized that a third party would actually be building and operating projects in northern Montour County, should the land be rezoned.
For that reason, he said, there were many questions it was impossible for Talen to answer.
Any projects developed on the land would be subject to state and municipal regulations which would govern construction and operations, he said.
Planning commission member Larry Blosky of Valley Township peppered Talen officials with questions.
At one point, when Jackson explained at length that the rezoning was requested for only 878 acres, because about 400 acres in Derry Township included in the project were already zoned industrial, thus bringing the total amount of acres included in the project to about 1,300, Blosky took the microphone in hand and replied, "For clarification, I can do math."
Blosky said Talen was asking the commission to approve something before they had a plan in place and full information available to members of the commission and to the public.
"Talen has done a disservice to the community by doing this backwards," he said.
When asked if the construction would mean rising electricity prices for residents, Julie Labella, vice president of external affairs at Talen, said it was possible that costs of electricity would go down after completion of the projects.
This was met with spirited laughter from the audience and shouts of "No, it won't!"
Jackson pointed out that, unlike energy provided at its Susquehanna plant, energy for a data center or other project in northern Montour County would be supplied through the grid and not specific to a Talen generator.
Ginny Kerslake traveled from outside the area near Philadelphia to speak out against the potential data center development and its impact on the community.
Kerslake said the planning commission's failure to recommend the rezoning will hopefully inform the decision of Montour County commissioners.
A public hearing will be held on Dec. 17 before Montour County commissioners. Commissioners will then have 60 days to make a decision on the rezoning.