(Newark Post) Josh Shannon reports ~ City sets meeting on power plant proposal
The Data Centers, LLC, based in Pennsylvania, has announced initial plans to build a 900,000-square-foot data center and power plant on the former Chrysler site, now referred to as UD’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus. The so-called “Wolf I Project” would bring 290 jobs to the 272-acre site on South College Avenue. According to a grant proposal the company filed earlier this year, the gas-fired power plant will produce more energy than the fiber-optic data center needs, leaving some available to flow into the grid to be sold to the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, a wholesale utility that powers Newark, New Castle, Middletown, Clayton, Smyrna, Dover, Milford, Lewes and Seaford. However, the 248-megawatt power plant has faced significant opposition from nearby residents who fear additional pollution and other ramifications. Several have addressed city council at recent meetings........Tuesday’s meeting will feature a presentation by Data Centers officials, followed by a question-and-answer session. The meeting will also be videotaped and shown online and on the city’s Channel 22 public affairs broadcast.
........According to City Solicitor Bruce Herron, council’s approval is not needed for the plan. “An electric generator which exists for the primary purpose of supplying electricity to the Data Center building, which is clearly a permitted use under Sec. 32-23.1(a)(5), is an accessory use/building which is permitted under 32-23.1(a)(13). The electric generator would be ‘incidental and subordinate to the {use} of the main building on the same lot’ which is how our Code defines accessory building/use. Section 32-4 (a) (1) and (2),” Herron wrote in a July 10 memo to mayor and council. “Standing alone, the words “Utility distribution” and “electric” in 32-23.1(a) could be interpreted to include an electric generator.However, the proposed generator would be built because of and will support the Data Center building. Therefore, there is no need to engage in this analysis since it qualifies as an accessory use.” That memo was obtained by Roe through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to the Newark Post. Earlier this month, council approved hiring an outside lawyer to draft a second opinion on the issue. As of Wednesday, the city has not received that second opinion, city spokeswoman Dana Johnson said.
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