The East Vincent Township Board of Supervisors denied an application from Pennhurst Holdings DE LLC to build a 1.9-million-square-foot hyperscale data center on the grounds of the former Pennhurst Hospital. Having written but then not adopted a data-center-specific zoning ordinance, the township received the application under an overlay zoning district named “industrial mixed use,” which requires an industrial use (the data center) to be accompanied by something like an office or light manufacturing use. Attorney Matthew McHugh, representing the developer, argued that because the plan included data center offices, battery storage and a gas-fired power plant, the site would house multiple uses. Carl Ewald, the attorney hired by the group East Vincent Advocacy, which was granted party status, argued those were all accessories to a single use. The applicant has indicated they intend to appeal the decision in court.
Source: Daily Local; 5/22/2026