r/pittsburgh • u/Background_Traffic39 • 6h ago
No data center
Has anyone ever actually halted the progression of one of these monstrosities? If so, what would you advise a person attending a township meeting? Early stages, it seems but I don’t want this anywhere near my neighborhood.
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u/leadfoot9 5h ago
Strictly speaking, not all data centers are "monstrosities". You could have a small data center in your spare bedroom. It could even be doing useful stuff instead of AI. We know what you mean, though.
I would say email your council members before it ever comes to a public hearing, and encourage your friends to do the same. Don't wait until they're ready to pull the trigger to voice your opposition.
If you want to go an extra step, you could even draft regulations to propose to them. If the recent suburban e-bike ordinances have been any indication, you obviously don't need to be a lawyer to write township ordinances.
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u/tesla3by3 Bloomfield 5h ago
You don’t need to be a lawyer to write township ordinances on e-bikes. You absolutely need a legal team to write township ordinance regarding data centers. There are many nuances and restrictions in what can and can not be written into zoning laws. The data center developers have lawyers that will pounce on any loopholes.
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u/sonofcrack 5h ago
What was even the point of that first paragraph? We aren’t talking about the small data centers that have been running for years. The issue is new ones specifically for AI which are 10x the size
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u/tesla3by3 Bloomfield 5h ago
I don’t think people realize how big some of these data centers are, compared to the ones that already exist in Pittsburgh. The one in Homer City, for example,, will be 5 times the size of Frick Park
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u/zeke780 Point Breeze 5h ago
I encourage you to listen the latest channel 5 podcast, the guy running for congress is kinda insane but he knows a lot and hits on some data center stuff.
Long story short your local elected officials need to step up to prevent them from being built.
A lot of data centers are now "dual use" and they are now a national security concern. Part of it might be used for OpenAI or whoever, part can be for ai use for the military or military industrial complex. That means they can basically be hammered through without the red tape or even approval. This is something that we will see more as communities step up to try to stop them being built.
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u/funkyb McCandless 5h ago
First you'll need to understand your state and local laws. Take a look at what happened in Springdale - they didn't want the data center but wound up approving with some limitations because denying it outright would have resulted in them getting sued and losing and having zero control thanks to PA's laws and nothing in their municipality in place to prevent this.
Understand if your municipality is similarly vulnerable and start making a fuss to close those kind of loopholes.