(The Center Square) An unsolicited letter from a data center developer that dangles $10,000 for every household in a northeastern Pennsylvania township – but only if the data center gets built – calls the money a “grant” but Ed Parks and Ed Negra call it a “bribe.”
The fact that the letter is about the marquee project in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s “Fast Track” permitting program makes their distaste worse. The two homeowners live in Hazle Township, Luzerne County, and will be among the closest neighbors if the 15 data center buildings of “Project Hazelnut” become a reality.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Parks, referring to letter with the $10,000 offer. “They are trying to drive a wedge between Hazle Township residents who are directly affected by the data center, like myself, and people who might live a couple of miles away.”
Negra, who like Parks lives in the sprawling Eagle Rock Resort community that is adjacent to the site, said, “Sounds like a bribe to me.”
Shapiro went to Luzerne County in late 2024 to publicly announce the Pennsylvania Permit Fast Track Program, intended to streamline permit-issuing for high-impact economic development and infrastructure projects. As of Friday, nine of the 17 projects shown on the state’s public Fast Track “dashboard” were data centers.
Concern about data center development has mushroomed in the state Legislature, although no comprehensive plan to regulate it has cleared both the House qnd Senate.
On Thursday, Democratic Rep. Kyle Mullins of Lackawanna County described the data center frenzy in the state as an irresponsible and speculative “gold rush.” And recently, Republican Rep. Jamie Walsh of Luzerne County said he would be investigating numerous real estate transactions carried out in Salem Township in that county, tied to data center proposals.
Hazle Township, with slightly more than 10,000 residents, surrounds the city of Hazleton and straddles Interstate 81 about 80 miles north of Philadelphia.
NorthPoint Development, a privately held real estate development firm that is based in Kansas City and is behind the Hazelnut proposal, took part in Shapiro’s late-2024 announcement.
A year later, though, following many complaints from residents, township supervisors voted unanimously to reject a land application from NorthPoint tied to the project. Last month, a Luzerne County judge denied an appeal filed by NorthPoint.
The recent letter signed by Nathaniel Hagedorn, NorthPoint CEO and founder, began arriving in local mailboxes about a week ago. It referred to “misinformation and fear that has circulated about data centers and our project” and sought to alleviate concerns about water, the environment, setbacks, light and power.
It also listed potential community benefits like a $105 million payout over 15 years for township initiatives like forming a police department and reducing trash fees.
Most eye-catching for individual homeowners, though, was the description of a “$45 million direct resident grant fund.” It said the grants would be available to each household in the township and could be spent on anything.
“This $10,000 will be paid to each household on the issuance of the certificate of occupancy of our first data center building,” the letter from Hagedorn said.
On Friday, a spokesperson for NorthPoint said letters were sent to all Hazle Township households, a total of more than 4,000.
“The letters are just starting to land in mailboxes, so we have not heard from many residents yet,” the spokesperson said.
Both Negra and Parks live in Eagle Rock with their wives and both were harshly critical of the letter.
“They can’t just throw their money around and think they can go where ever they want, disrupting people’s quality of life,” said Negra, a retired building materials manager for a contracting company. He described the attempted start of the project as sneaky.
“When people have to resort to bribing people to get something passed, that’s what it is. That’s pretty poor that that has to happen,” Negra said.
Parks and his wife, Annmarie Palumbo-Parks, live near Negra in a somewhat remote and wooded part of Eagle Rock.
Palumbo-Parks said people in the well-established community volunteer and donate money for causes in nearby Hazleton. Living in the beautiful, wooded area, for many, is the payoff after a lifetime of work and planning.
“How can you put a price on your well-being?” she said.
Her husband, a retired software company vice president, was blunt.
“They are trying to bribe people,” Ed Parks said. “They are being very disingenuous in this letter. Plus, it is not a contract.”
He, too, believes the start of the project seemed shrouded in secrecy at the local level.
He said, “It should never have been fast-tracked.”
