Video: Ninety seconds over the Amazon data center in Hilliard, Ohio
Video: Ninety seconds over the Amazon data center in Hilliard, Ohio
Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Dispatch
Another Columbus-area municipality has enacted a temporary moratorium on data center construction.
Washington Township trustees unanimously voted 3-0 on Dec. 8 to place a 90-day ban on data centers within the unincorporated parts of the township, which encompasses the northwest corner of Franklin County as well as parts of Union and Delaware counties.
The township is also asking the neighboring city of Dublin to do the same.
Dublin City Manager Megan O’Callaghan was present at the township meeting when the ban was enacted, trustees told The Dispatch and Dublin city spokesperson Lindsay Weisenauer later confirmed. Despite multiple requests on Dec. 12 for a comment from the city, Weisenauer declined to provide one until the city received a copy of the township resolution.
The Washington Township resolution comes after Jerome Township trustees also passed a temporary moratorium on data centers on Sept. 3. That temporary ban was passed while a few applications for data centers were pending, but there are no such pending plans in Washington Township, Trustee Chuck Kranstuber told The Dispatch.
“My position is that these centers are totally inconsistent with residential neighborhoods,” Kranstuber said.
He added that experiences in other communities nationwide have shown that data centers consume large amounts of energy and water and can emit noise into surrounding areas.
Washington Township provides fire services to Dublin and residents in unincorporated areas.
The initial 90-day ban in Washington Township could be followed by an indefinite one pending legal review that trustees could discuss early next year, Kranstuber said.
Meanwhile, Dublin City Council is expected to revisit the controversial zoning process for what it is calling the West Innovation District on the western edge of the city at some point next year. Proposed text to include data centers as an acceptable use has mobilized several residents of the nearby Ballantrae residential subdivision in opposition and led to the city delaying the process multiple times.
The Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to review proposed code amendments Jan. 22, according to the city website.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers the northwestern suburbs for the Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at [email protected].
