Residents in attendance were not happy.
Neither were some council members who voted in favor of it.
"This is not something we want in our neighborhood," said resident Patrick Zollner, who said that he works in IT. "Once that thing goes in, we're done. We will not have peace."
Before the vote, residents approached a microphone to address council members with three minutes to speak. They had been instructed to leave signs from a pre-meeting protest outside.
A dozen residents spoke, and each opposed the data center. Concerns addressed continuous noise, pollution, adverse health effects and aesthetics.
Then it was time for council to vote.
Patrick Zollner, a 36 year resident of Springdale is the first of many residents to speak out at a the Springdale Borough Council meeting where a vote to allow the former coal power station site to become a data center was to be taken Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. "I work in IT...it's going to be way worse than everyone expects." he said.(Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
Jeffrey Hartz struggled to get through his public address, proclaiming he was "nervous as [expletive], I gotta tell you." He said making this decision was the hardest thing he'd ever done.
Mr. Hartz tried to walk the room through his thought process, saying he'd heard of "threats" that Springdale would be sued if they voted no. His biggest concern was the center's 24/7 noise, and its impact on autistic members of the community. Mr. Hartz said he understood the allure of the $660,000 the data center is expected to generate in taxes, but, he asked, "at what cost?"
"We could get sued," he said. "Way I look at it, if you have to sue a small community like ours to invade it, you should probably not come. ... My vote is no."
The room erupted with applause and whistles.
Councilman Joseph Kern was next, voting yes. Heckles from the crowd of roughly 75 residents erupted.
Earlier this month, Allegheny DC Property Co. bought the 47-acre site for $14.3 million in the borough's Industrial District. Although the district suits industrial development, Springdale's zoning ordinances do not specifically permit or account for data centers, which is why Allegheny DC applied for a "conditional use permit" in August.
Last week, the borough's Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved the six variances requested by the developer to build outside of regulated dimensions. All that was left was council's vote on a conditional use permit that would allow the site to become a data center.
Councilwoman Dolly Stephens said she has had many sleepless nights considering her vote — and a person in the audience shouted, "You'll have many sleepless more!"
"The community would not survive us being sued," she said. "... My family was born and raised in this town. My family has been part of this town all of our lives. No one loves Springdale more than me. I am voting yes to save the community."
Councilman Jason Overly went next, voting yes. As a lifelong Springdale resident, he said, he did not want the data center, but said Springdale could not afford a lawsuit.
Councilman Daniel Copeland said he also has lived here all his life, and that being sued was not an option.
"Either have a good neighbor and they follow with the conditional uses, or we vote no [and] they take us to court," he said. "They are going to win in that court proceeding — we've had multiple attorneys telling us they will win in this court proceeding against us — and then what's going to happen? They're going to come back and they're going to tell us to take those conditional uses that we have as our bargaining chips, and they're going to tell us to shove it.
"So with that being said, I vote yes."
Councilwoman Antoinnette Robbins voted no.
"I was asked at the last meeting to recuse my vote because I made it public that I did not want the data center — and I'm not going to recuse my vote because I have my own opinions," Ms. Robbins said. "I don't care if they got to sue a little town, you don't need to be here."
Mike Ziencik, council president, closed out the vote with a yes and the conditional permit was approved 5-2.
Mr. Ziencik called for a 10-minute recess; most residents didn't return for the rest of the meeting.
Brian Regli, a consultant for developer Allegheny DC who did not attend the vote, told the Post-Gazette earlier this month that the developer would continue to engage the community on its concerns throughout the process.
"The next phase has just as much public engagement, it has just as much consideration from expert authorities, and it has a lot of different moving parts, because now you go from a schematic design, which is what's possible, to what you actually want to build," Mr. Regli said.
On Tuesday, when it was time for public comment at the end of the meeting, some residents shared concerns about health.
"I just want to say I don't doubt that your job is hard," Cathy Mager said. "It is, but I am very, very disappointed that you basically sold your community. You threw us under the bus for Goliath.
"I'm disappointed in every one of you, except you two. Kudos to you."
Matthew Lang, 31, came to the meeting with a scroll of paper 20-feet long on which he'd handwritten the names of roughly 450 people who had signed his petition against the data center.
"They have more money than we do," Mr. Lang said. "But that doesn't mean I'm done fighting and being here in Springdale."
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