Another Greater Cincinnati community is temporarily pausing data center developments to give government leaders time to research potential impacts and consider regulations.
The Butler County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a six-month moratorium on data centers. The six townships under the county’s zoning control all requested the board consider a temporary ban.
“We have to understand what we're committing our residents to, and the county's infrastructure, and the county's resources as far as water and sewer availability, and who gets charged for the electric, etc., etc., etc.,” Commissioner Don Dixon said, adding he's not against data centers in general.
Commission President T.C. Rogers also said he’s not opposed to the warehouse-like facilities that store computing equipment.
"What I found is in these discussions with the developers, the developers didn’t or weren't able to answer some of the questions which were pertinent,” Rogers said. “It's almost like, 'Sign here and we'll work it out.' "
The moratorium will apply to Hanover, Lemon, Madison, Milford, Oxford and Ross townships, which the county controls zoning for. All the other cities, villages, and townships in Butler County manage their own zoning codes.
The commissioners enacted the moratorium immediately. It prohibits the "approval, establishment, or construction or the granting/issuance of any permit for any data center."
Some people attending the meeting applauded after the three commissioners voted.
A couple of large-scale data centers have been proposed in Butler County. A data center on 141 acres of land is underway in Trenton. A proposed development on 29 acres of land in Hamilton has been on pause since January.
Both have faced opposition from residents, who say they’re concerned about impacts on utility bills, the environment and noise.
Some people previously asked the commissioners for a countywide moratorium on data centers. But the commissioners can only restrict those developments in areas where they control zoning, according to reporting from The Journal-News.
Communities throughout the Tri-State have enacted their own moratoriums on data centers, including Cincinnati, Mt. Orab and Dearborn County, Indiana.
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