Listen Here
By Victoria Hansen
A motion to place a moratorium on data center construction failed to pass in the Findlay City Council on April 7 and in the Zoning and Planning Commission on April 9.
The moratorium was originally proposed by Rodney Phillips and Dan DeLong to place a 12-month moratorium on the construction of data centers in Findlay.
DeLong has said that data centers are not listed in the City of Findlay’s zoning code, which means they are banned in Findlay. This moratorium would give the city a year to research the necessary infrastructure and zoning laws required for a data center and make a decision on whether one should be built in Findlay. If a decision is not made within one year, the council can extend the moratorium. If the city makes a decision before the end of the year, it can remove the moratorium early.
“I am the one who requested it, and it’s not because I’m trying to say no to data centers,” Phillips said. “I’m just trying to say yes to more study, analysis, and include the public in the conversation a little more.”
Phillips says that AI companies are looking for land in unzoned areas to build centers on, and Findlay has prime real estate.
“There is a real-time crunch with data centers nationwide. The need is now,” Phillips said. “In three years, the need will be gone.”
DeLong requested that the legislation be passed as an emergency so that the moratorium could go into effect immediately and research could begin.
The motion died in the meeting due to the vague wording in the moratorium, but a motion to send the moratorium to the Zoning and Planning Commission for further discussion passed unanimously.
“I want to make sure that we’re going through the process and we’re not skipping things because we feel like it,” Chairperson of the Zoning and Planning Commission Heather Kensinger said. “If we do the same process every time, then the city knows they can trust what we do.”
The Planning and Zoning Committee did not pass the moratorium, but voted to recommend drafting two possible zoning codes about data centers: an edited version of a previously proposed code and a new code that is restrictive against data centers.
Ohio currently has 203 data centers, making it the fifth highest state in the country. Proponents of data centers say that data centers create jobs, increase property value, and boost tax revenue for communities. Detractors of data centers say that while the construction of data centers creates short-term jobs, they employ relatively few long-term employees; use large amounts of electricity and water; and disturb local wildlife.
