Case File · Newton & Ransom Townships, Lackawanna County, PA
Ten campuses across one county. Two already denied.
Newton Township Zoning Officer D. Scot Haan denied Popca LLC’s 90-acre East Newton Ira Tripp Tract on February 19, 2026 as “not an allowed use.” Next door, Ransom Township supervisors had already rejected Scranton Materials LLC’s zoning amendment in January. Both appeals sit at the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas.
Cited Newton parcel read: 28/100 — flagging Rural Resource zoning and countywide saturation before the first filing.
~90 ac
Parcel Size
$280M
Project Value
Denied
Newton Status
Denied
Ransom Status
10 campuses
County Pipeline
28/100
RealClear Score
Newton & Ransom Townships, PA · 2025 — 2026
From amendment denial to zoning officer denial.
Two adjacent townships took two different procedural routes to the same outcome.
2025
Popca LLC acquires East Newton Ira Tripp Tract
Popca LLC (427 Main Street, Archbald, PA), with Mark Gawron as the prior property owner contact, acquires approximately 90 acres on Newton Road known as the East Newton Ira Tripp Tract. The parcel sits in Newton Township's Rural Resource zoning district.
January 2026
Ransom Township denies Scranton Materials zoning amendment
Ransom Township supervisors reject a proposed zoning amendment that would have enabled Scranton Materials LLC's six-building data-center campus at 819 Newton Road. Attorney Michael Mey appeals the denial to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas in March 2026. The denial signals county-wide political resistance.
February 19, 2026
Newton Township zoning officer denies Popca application
Newton Township Zoning Officer D. Scot Haan denies Popca LLC's application, writing that the proposed use is “not an allowed use within Newton Twp.” The project description had called for two buildings, each 35 feet tall and 145,200 sq ft (approximately three acres each), at an estimated $280 million cost.
March 23, 2026
Popca files appeal of zoning officer denial
Popca LLC files an appeal of the February 19 denial. The appeal hearing is scheduled for April 27, 2026 at 7 p.m. at the Newton Township Municipal Building, 1528 Newton Ransom Blvd, Clarks Summit. The appeal challenges the zoning officer's textual reading of the Rural Resource district.
April 2026
Ten campuses pending across Lackawanna County
Ten data-center campuses are proposed across Lackawanna County: six in Archbald, and one each in Clifton, Covington, Dickson City, Newton, and Ransom townships. The county-wide density saturates opposition bandwidth and turns each individual hearing into a proxy for the countywide pattern.
The People Who Decided This Case
Zoning officers, supervisors, and the appellate track.
One township denied administratively. The next denied legislatively. Both pointed the applicants at the county court.
D. Scot Haan
Newton Township Zoning Officer
Documented Record
Issued the February 19, 2026 denial of the Popca LLC application, finding that a data center is “not an allowed use within Newton Twp.”
A zoning-officer denial on textual grounds is structurally different from a political denial. It can only be overturned by the zoning hearing board, a text amendment, or a use variance — none of which are fast.
Newton Township Supervisors
Newton Township
Documented Record
As the legislative body, the Supervisors oversee the zoning officer and the Unified Development Ordinance. No text amendment permitting data centers has been initiated as of April 2026.
The absence of a supervisor-initiated text amendment is the signal. When a legislative body is interested in enabling a land use, it amends. When it is not, it leaves the zoning officer's denial intact.
Ransom Township Supervisors
Ransom Township
Documented Record
Denied the zoning amendment enabling Scranton Materials LLC's 819 Newton Road data center campus in January 2026. The Ransom denial is currently on appeal at the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas.
Ransom's denial — legislatively, not administratively — is a stronger signal of political resistance than Newton's textual denial. The Court of Common Pleas appeal will take months to years.
Michael Mey
Attorney (for Scranton Materials LLC)
Documented Record
Filed the March 2026 appeal of the Ransom Township zoning amendment denial at the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Scranton Materials LLC.
Appellate litigation over a legislative zoning decision is a high-friction, high-uncertainty path. Pennsylvania courts defer heavily to township supervisors on zoning amendments absent clear abuse of discretion.
Popca LLC (Mark Gawron contact)
Applicant — Newton Township
Documented Record
Filed March 23, 2026 appeal of the zoning officer denial; the proposed development was two 145,200 sq ft buildings at $280 million total cost on approximately 90 acres.
The appeal is procedurally valid but faces a hostile underlying framework. An April 27 hearing is a first step, not a resolution, and even a favorable ruling would be subject to further appeal by aggrieved neighbors.
Lackawanna County (10-campus pipeline)
Contextual political factor
Documented Record
WVIA reporting (April 2026) documents ten data-center campuses proposed across the county: six in Archbald; one each in Clifton, Covington, Dickson City, Newton, and Ransom.
Ten simultaneous proposals act as a force multiplier for opposition. Each individual hearing becomes a referendum on the countywide pattern, not an isolated land-use question.
The Key Differentiator
Source records that existed before the site went to contract.
Rural Resource Is Not Industrial
Newton Township's Rural Resource zoning district does not enumerate data-center use. A textual reading of the ordinance produces an automatic denial. Curing this requires a legislative amendment by the same supervisors who have not initiated one.
County-Wide Saturation
Ten campuses simultaneously across six Lackawanna County townships produces opposition compounding. Each hearing references the others. Each denial raises the cost of the next application.
Common Pleas Is Slow
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas appeals of legislative zoning denials are multi-year processes in Pennsylvania, with high deference to township-level fact-finding. Capital-intensive data-center schedules cannot absorb that timeline.
Zoning Officer vs. Supervisor
A zoning officer denial (Newton) is administrative and appealable to the zoning hearing board. A supervisor denial (Ransom) is legislative and appealable only to court. The two denials look similar but produce very different remedy pathways.
Industrial-District Alternatives Exist
Lackawanna County has industrial-zoned land near the existing Lackawanna Energy Center and other industrial corridors where data-center use is either enumerated or compatible. The denied parcels are not the only inventory.
Opposition Compounds Across Townships
Residents who organized against Ransom's Scranton Materials proposal testified in Newton's hearings. Opposition bandwidth is a regional pool, not a township one, and ten simultaneous campuses deplete it for every applicant.
The Pre-Filing Research
What RealClear finds at East Newton Ira Tripp Tract.
Before the zoning officer opened the application. Before the county pipeline was visible.
Site Analysis
Popca LLC — East Newton Ira Tripp Tract
Newton Township, Lackawanna County, PA — ~90 acres, Rural Resource zoning
Material Constraints
- Rural Resource zoning district — data center is not an enumerated use
- Ten DC campuses proposed across Lackawanna County — saturated opposition bandwidth
- Adjacent Ransom Township already denied Scranton Materials LLC zoning amendment
- Zoning officer denial predates any planning commission review
- Appellate pathway is Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas — slow, expensive
Recommendation
DO NOT PURSUE WITHOUT RESTRUCTURING. Newton Township's Rural Resource district does not include data centers. The zoning officer's February 19 denial was a textual reading, not a political one — which means the only path forward is a text amendment or a use-variance hearing. The scheduled April 27, 2026 appeal is a hearing, not an approval. Redirect to Lackawanna Energy Center-adjacent parcels in industrial districts.
This Is Entitlement Research
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RealClear maps zoning district enumeration, administrative vs legislative denial paths, and county-wide saturation — before you file.
Cited research summary · Not legal advice · Verify independently before making investment decisions