Ohio Supreme Court sides with Ashville residents trying to overturn data center agreement
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ashville residents, stating that the village's fiscal officer could not refuse to certify a petition to repeal a data center agreement. This decision allows residents to potentially put a referendum on the November ballot to overturn a preliminary agreement with EdgeConneX, which includes an exemption from the village's data center moratorium.
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Ashville Fiscal Officer April Grube improperly refused to certify a petition from residents opposing a proposed data center project. This decision upholds the constitutional right of citizens to a referendum, especially when an emergency measure, like the one passed by the Ashville Village Council, lacks specific justification.
The referendum seeks to repeal a preliminary agreement between the village and EdgeConneX, which plans to construct two data centers and a natural gas power plant on 195 acres. The agreement included financial obligations for EdgeConneX and an exemption from Ashville's existing data center moratorium, passed by the council as an emergency resolution. Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, representing the opposition group Data Center Resistance, lauded the ruling as a victory for citizen participation.
Despite the Supreme Court's decision, the referendum's inclusion on the November ballot is not yet guaranteed. The Pickaway County Board of Elections must now consider the petition, which the court ordered to be treated as timely filed, and will determine if the resolution can be overturned by voters as an administrative action. Ashville Mayor Roger Clark acknowledged the court's judgment but expressed uncertainty about the next steps, noting his lack of legal expertise.