Residents Against the Newark Power Plant asked Superior Court to intervene in their effort to overturn a Newark Board of Adjustment decision ruling that the site on the University of Delaware STAR campus had proper zoning.
“We are asking for the Superior Court to apply judicial review to the BOA proceedings and either overturn the the zoning verification or send the decision back to the Board of Adjustment. The petition details four key legal errors made by the BOA,” according to a post on the group’s website.
The post went on to describe what it sees as serious errors made by the board in making the decision that upheld an earlier zoning determination by city staff.
The fiing had been expected as the group has fiercely opposed the project, going so far as to make their case in picketing before prospective students and parents visiting the university.
Superior Court will decide whether to accept the filing from the group.
Ken Grant, spokesman for The Data Centers, developer of the project, issued the following: “TDC believes the City did a thorough and comprehensive job in initially reviewing the zoning verification request, and that the Board of Adjustment likewise did a thorough job of reviewing the City’s grant of the zoning verification. The proposed data center and CHP co-generation facility is environmentally better for Newark and Delaware than if power were drawn from the existing grid, and TDC is confident that the Delaware Courts will uphold the City’s decision.”
The filing also comes as the group claims a report by a consultant to the City of Newark cited problems with the Data Centers air permit application.
