AI Data Center Developer Promises $10K Checks To Residents, Locals Call It A Bribe
In Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, a clash over the expansion of AI data centers has taken an extraordinary turn.
When NorthPoint Development proposed a 1,300-acre project in the Pocono foothills designed to host 15 data center buildings, it was met with fierce local resistance to the construction, but NorthPoint had an idea. In an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal, it was found that the developer mailed letters offering $10,000 to each of the roughly 4,500 households in Hazle Township. The payout, totaling $45 million, came with an obvious caveat: the checks would only be issued if the township approved the necessary zoning changes to allow the facility to be built. On top of the resident payouts, the developer dangled municipal funding packages to sweeten the pot for local leaders.
However, the proposal ignited immediate outrageand many residents openly condemned the offer as an outright bribe intended to...
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