Wilmington sued over ‘emergency’ rezoning for proposed data center
A Wilmington, Ohio resident has filed a lawsuit against the city, seeking to overturn an "emergency" rezoning approval for a proposed $4 billion Amazon data center. The lawsuit contends that the city's emergency designation is a tactic to prevent residents from initiating a public referendum on the issue. This legal action follows prior court rulings against the city regarding open meetings and precedent from the Ohio Supreme Court on similar
Rachel Mary Brooks, a Wilmington, Ohio resident, has filed a lawsuit against the City of Wilmington to overturn an "emergency" rezoning decision by the City Council. The rezoning, approved on Thursday night, paves the way for a proposed $4 billion Amazon data center on a 471-acre parcel along South U.S. 68.
Brooks and her attorney, Joshua Engel, argue that the city's emergency designation for the ordinance is a pretext to prevent residents from collecting signatures for a public referendum, which is disallowed under Ohio law for emergency measures. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to allow residents to pursue a ballot initiative. This action comes after several homeowners previously sued the city over noise, vibrations, and open meetings violations related to the data center, leading to a judge ordering a redo of related ordinances.
Residents near the proposed 1.9-million-square-foot project, which includes a private electrical substation, water treatment building, and extensive infrastructure upgrades funded by Amazon, express concerns about noise, air pollution, energy use, and utility bill impacts. The Ohio Supreme Court has recently sided with residents in similar data center-related cases in Trenton and Ashville, ruling against municipalities' use of emergency declarations to block referendums.