A real estate developer backed by Brian O'Neill — the same figure behind a previously withdrawn and now-revived data center proposal in Plymouth Township — has submitted eight data center projects totaling more than 4 million square feet in Upper Merion Township. All of the proposals were filed days before the township enacted a stricter data center ordinance, potentially giving the developer a regulatory loophole. The projects, spread across Renaissance Boulevard, Horizon Drive, Swedeland Road and River Road, will go before the township planning commission on May 27. Critics, including a bipartisan coalition of residents and state legislators, cite concerns ranging from noise, water and energy consumption, and property value declines, to the broader question of who actually benefits from AI infrastructure. Adding another dimension, emails obtained through a Right to Know request by the advocacy group Concerned Citizens of Montour County revealed that O'Neill had been lobbying the Shapiro administration to require opponents of data center projects to post bonds worth double a project's cost — a move that would effectively price most residents out of the appeals process. Read more in the Norristown Patch.
Source: Norristown Patch; 5/18/2026