HAZLE TOWNSHIP, PA.-The letters started arriving in June, from a big developer who said he would give $10,000 to every family in town. They could spend it on anything. "Really whatever you want," the developer wrote.
To get the money, the township just needed to let NorthPoint Development build its data center, the first of 15 buildings the firm planned on 1,300 acres in the Pocono foothills. Then, $10,000 checks would go out to each of the 4,500 households there. It would be a $45 million payout, the developer wrote.
For many in Hazle Township, which has a median household income of about $60,000, a payout of $10,000 would be a significant sum. Even after taxes, it could cover about six months of rent for a two-bedroom apartment or many more months of groceries or fuel.
But regardless of income, job status or location, few of the people in Hazle Township interviewed by The Wall Street Journal indicated that they are eager to welcome the data center for the payout.
They reject the developer's project for a variety of reasons, from the accompanying noise to an aversion to the rapid spread of artificial intelligence. A common thread is a general distrust toward these projects or the people behind them.
John Zola, a resident of nearby Sugarloaf who opposes construction of data-center transmission lines through his property, said small-town politicians across Pennsylvania are too easily wooed or overwhelmed by big developers. Then "the gates open, and then the municipalities provide 10-year tax abatements."
Data-center developers are increasingly offering towns and cities packages in the tens of millions of dollars, including funds for fire departments, emergency services and schools. In Hazle Township, locals have also spotted developer generosity at the local Italian festival: "Free Amusement Rides Sponsored By NorthPoint."
Direct cash payments to residents, however, would mark a new phase in the AI build-out.
Jeff Fasnacht, a retired teacher whose house lies near the planned data center, worries about noise from years of data-center construction to come.
"$10,000 doesn't match how much it's going to tank my property value," said Fasnacht, nursing a scotch and cigar after a morning round of golf at the Eagle Rock Resort.
Some locals suggest governments and developers are keeping information about projects from the public. On that point, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order last month banning nondisclosure agreements between local governments and data-center companies.
Charlie Leshko, a retired maintenance man and janitor who lives in a seniors residence in Hazleton, was intrigued by the cash offer. While he lives just outside the area eligible for the money, he understands why it might appeal.
"$10,000 don't come along every day," he said. That money could go toward a new car, he said, or a down payment on a house. "I always wanted to have my own house," Leshko said.
Diana Spallone, a special-education teacher who got the letter, worries that an influx of data centers would ultimately hurt her home's value. That is her overriding concern.
But she and her husband recently made home improvements, including a new roof. The data-center payout, she said, would at least help replenish their savings.
"$10,000 would be nice," Spallone said.
The idea for the payments came after a raucous public meeting last year, where angry locals asked what they had to gain by supporting the data center, said Brent Miles, chief marketing officer at NorthPoint.
"I think we've got something here that's on the cutting edge," Miles said in an interview, "really in direct response to 'what's in it for me?'"
Apart from the resident payment fund, Miles touted another $120 million in payments the company plans to make over the next 15 years, including money for a police department and other community investments.
He estimated the company has converted close to 100 residents initially skeptical about the payments, by answering their questions and clearing up what he called misinformation about water, energy costs, noise and other issues.
Some residents who got the $10,000 offer own big houses with views of the mountains. Others live in the former coal patch towns that encircle the small city of Hazleton, where weathered vinyl-sided homes with soiled awnings line the streets and the taverns fill up by five o'clock.
In nearby Salem Township, dozens of families made millions of dollars selling their land for server farms. But as community backlash to data-center construction builds throughout Pennsylvania, a $10,000 payout seemed to many residents like a too-cheap attempt to buy their acquiescence.
"At first it seems like 'well, OK, maybe I'll think about it,' " said Carl Majusiak, a retired foundry worker who contemplated the developer's offer while sipping a Miller Lite at the Dog House Saloon in West Hazleton. But Majusiak decided, "we don't need that around here."
Fifteen years ago, developers started clearing forests to build more warehouses, Majusiak recalled. He lost his favorite deer hunting spot to cinder blocks.
The data center's fate looks uncertain. Hazle Township's government rejected the project on zoning grounds in November. Developer NorthPoint then sued the township to overturn the decision, an action still being litigated.
In the interim, Hazle Township has enacted a temporary moratorium on data-center construction, while it works to update its zoning laws.
Ed Negra, a retired homeowner in Hazle Township who is helping organize opposition to the data center, said the $10,000 offer might end up backfiring.
"I think it works the opposite way, because most people have the opinion that, 'hey, are they trying to bribe us here?'"
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