Union County townships update zoning to restrict data centers; Jerome project advances
Most Union County, Ohio townships have proactively updated their zoning codes to prohibit data centers, following advice from county economic officials. Despite this trend, Jerome Township is seeing progress on a new data center campus project by BA Mitchell Owner LLC, with its preliminary plat approval extended. Additionally, a large adjacent property is seeking rezoning to allow for potential future data center development, influenced by a neighboring Amazon campus.
Most townships across Union County, Ohio, have responded to advice from county economic officials by updating their zoning codes to prohibit data centers. This surge in zoning activity, noted by Brad Bodenmiller, director of the LUC Regional Planning Commission, represents a record-breaking pace for local development rule changes, with data centers being a primary focus alongside other new developments.
In Jerome Township, however, a data center campus project spearheaded by BA Mitchell Owner LLC near Industrial Parkway and Mitchell-DeWitt Road is making progress. The Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission recently approved a two-year extension for the project's preliminary plat, which divides a 159.43-acre property into commercial lots specifically for a "Data Center Campus." Furthermore, Marysville City Council and Jerome Township officials approved an amendment to add the property to the Joint Economic Development District (JEDD), allowing the city and township to share income-tax revenue from the construction.
Separately, Jerome Township is considering a request to rezone 165.7 acres of agricultural land at 10061 Mitchell-Dewitt Road from Rural Residential to an Office, Research, and Medical district. This change, influenced by a massive Amazon data center campus under construction nearby, would make data centers a conditional use on the property. The township zoning commission is expected to review this case soon before a final trustee vote.