Hazle Township, PA Board Votes Unanimously for 180-Day Pause on Data Center Applications, Halting Project Hazelnut Review

The Hazle Township board voted unanimously on June 8 to temporarily stop all consideration of data center proposals, a pause on data center applications in the town for 180 days (Inside Climate News). Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group, describes the measure as a municipal curative amendment that pauses consideration of any new data center applications for six months while the township updates its zoning ordinances, and says it came less than two weeks after a judge rebuked developer Northpoint’s effort to appeal the township’s denial of Project Hazelnut.

The proposal includes plans for 15 data center buildings and an electrical substation across a nearly 1,300-acre site, and was touted as an investment that would bring 900 jobs and boost tax revenue under the statewide permitting initiative (Inside Climate News). Food & Water Watch identifies it as an Amazon Web Services campus and says the project, a flagship in the governor’s Fast-Track permitting program, was granted state permits to clear forests and begin construction activities despite lacking local approvals.

On June 24, NorthPoint announced a $165 million community benefits fund as part of a revised version of the proposal, including $10,000 grants to eligible households in the township. The Scranton Times-Tribune wrote in a June 28 editorial that “It isn’t difficult to see this as little more than a bribe, an incentive to look the other way while another company does whatever it wants to do in our backyards.” Comparable local actions are in 2026-09-22–prince-william-county-ends-by-right-data-centers-8-0-special-use-permits and 2026-07-22–loudoun-county-va-moratorium-blocked-by-state-law.