Why Butler County leaders cannot block data centers

Residents of Trenton and surrounding areas in Butler County, Ohio, are voicing significant opposition to a proposed 899,065-square-foot Prologis data center project. Despite community concerns regarding water usage, electrical grid impact, environmental issues, and increased traffic, the Trenton Plan Commission approved the site plan for the facility located on 141 acres within city limits. City attorney Nick Ziepfel stated a public hearing was not required as the land is zoned industrial and did not necessitate a zone change. Following the approval, approximately 30 residents appealed to the Butler County commissioners, urging them to implement a countywide moratorium on data center developments until comprehensive health, environmental, noise, and regional traffic studies could be conducted. However, Commissioner Don Dixon and the County Commissioners Association of Ohio's policy director, Adam Schwiebert, clarified that the county's authority to impose zoning-related moratoria is limited primarily to unincorporated areas, not within municipalities like Trenton. Concurrently, state lawmakers are pursuing measures to address the proliferation of data centers. The Ohio House unanimously passed House Bill 646, which proposes a 13-member commission to study the total economic and environmental impacts of data centers and submit recommendations within six months. Additionally, a more extensive effort is underway to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would ban data centers statewide, requiring over 400,000 signatures from voters across at least 44 counties by July 1.