--- title: Amazon's Wilmington, OH Data Center Heads to a Planning Commission Vote on November 10th as Ohio Weighs a Ban description: Wilmington Planning Commission meets to review Amazon's data center proposal amid growing local and statewide opposition to such facilities. image: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66525ec138843cc1ccb1c325/68c301ebaa36be33aa2af8f7_1a3f16114a452999cc4d7d6b36ae1602_Obedio%20march%20of%20progress.png --- [Skip to content](https://hs.getobedio.com/blog/amazons-wilmington-oh-data-center-heads-to-a-planning-commission-vote-on-november-10th-as-ohio-weighs-a-ban#main-content) [![Obedio logo with black text and an orange graphic composed of four circles and a diagonal arrow pointing up and right.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66525ec138843cc1ccb1c325/66529844eddaa630d6da1b42_obedio%20gold%20for%20white%20background.png)](https://getobedio.com) [Team](https://www.getobedio.com/team) [Pricing](https://www.getobedio.com/pricing) [Contact](https://www.getobedio.com/demo) [Blog](https://www.getobedio.com/blog) [Login](https://obed.io/v4/login) Ballot Measure Data Center Development Data # Amazon's Wilmington, OH Data Center Heads to a Planning Commission Vote on November 10th as Ohio Weighs a Ban ![Obedio research](https://7528315.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/7528315/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mV0_d-cms-elevate-theme_hubspot/elevate/images/avatar-placeholder.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=avatar-placeholder.jpg) Obedio research November 6, 2026 The Wilmington Planning Commission will hold a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, to take up Amazon's site plan for a data center campus on the city's south side. The agenda lists the property owner as Amazon Data Services, Inc., the address as 1488 S US 68, the agent as Bohler Engineering and the zoning as Light Industrial. The request, still marked "Tabled," calls for a presentation by the applicant, staff reports, commission discussion, a public hearing and commission action. [Read the agenda](https://obedio.ai/g?file=planning-commission-agenda-special-2026-11-10-44677cbb.pdf). For the first time, city planning staff are recommending approval. The vote comes a week after Ohio voters approved data center bans or limits in at least 14 communities, and while a statewide constitutional amendment to ban large data centers is being aimed at the 2027 ballot. ## The project **472 acres** west of US 68, south of SR 134 **9 server buildings**, most at 219,689 square feet **About 250** backup generators **838** parking spaces across two phases **6 million gallons** of water per year, by Amazon's estimate The staff report, prepared by consulting planner Zeb Acuff of the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission and dated October 26, describes 12 principal buildings on a parcel sometimes called the Cosler Farm. Phase One has three server buildings. Phase Two adds six more. Each large server building would have 28 backup generators (20 for the smallest) and three water tanks. Three smaller support buildings, an electrical substation, stormwater ponds and a water tower round out the campus. Main access would come from US 68, with secondary emergency access from SR 730. The closest homes are in the Timber Glen subdivision to the north. The report says a 32-foot landscaped berm and fencing put the nearest building about 650 feet from the end of Timber Glen Drive. City code requires data centers to sit at least 200 feet from any residential zoning district and to use "critical-grade silencers" on generators. ## How the site plan got here The Clinton County Commissioners journalized the 471.609-acre annexation petition on April 14, 2025. The site came into the city as Rural Residential. The Planning Commission recommended Light Industrial zoning on July 1, 2025, and council approved annexation and rezoning on August 7, 2025. In November 2025, council took up Ordinance O-25-73, a tax agreement among the city, Amazon Data Services and the Clinton County Port Authority, with a separate compensation agreement for Wilmington City Schools. It received a first reading on December 4, 2025. It does not appear among the 2025 ordinances the city has posted as passed and signed. Instead, on December 18, 2025, council took up Ordinance O-25-78, which sets up a 30-year tax increment financing district on the US 68 property, the "Southwest Connector" TIF. Under the ordinance, 100% of the increase in the property's value is exempt from real property tax, and the owner makes payments in lieu of taxes instead. Part of those payments goes to Wilmington City Schools and Great Oaks Career Campuses, and the rest goes into a city fund for public infrastructure. A signed copy of O-25-78 is posted with the city's 2025 passed ordinances. Port Authority board minutes from the same day say the CRA and development agreement were not on that night's council agenda. The commission first heard the site plan on January 6, 2026. Forty-three residents spoke, and the commission tabled the plan 5-0 for lack of information. On March 3, the commission tabled a city proposal to make data centers a conditional use, which would have sent new projects to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Deputy Law Director Brooke Horan told members that Amazon "has already been grandfathered in as a permitted use." The commission met again in a special session on March 25. Horan told the commission that an emergency temporary restraining order and injunction had been filed that morning, and that the parties had agreed the meeting would be "for informational purposes only and no official actions shall be taken." Amazon economic development manager John Werkman answered questions that night. He said each generator would run an average of 10 hours a year for testing, maintenance and emergencies, and that the company targets sound "similar to what a running refrigerator may sound like" at the property line of the nearest homes. He said water cooling would be needed about 11 days a year and that Amazon had reserved 600,000 gallons per day from the city as a backstop. Staff recommended tabling again, and the commission voted 5-0 to do so. Residents then took the dispute to federal court. A July 14 order, entered by agreement between the city and the plaintiffs, barred the commission from acting on the site plan until council ratified, replaced or reenacted three ordinances covering generator noise, data centers as a permitted use and the rezoning of the site. It also requires 14 days' notice before the commission acts. The city posted the November 10 meeting on October 27, 14 days ahead. Council redid all three. On August 20, it passed Ordinance O-26-43, exempting emergency generators from city noise rules during power outages, by a 6-1 vote after a 2-5 vote to strip its emergency clause failed. On September 3, it passed Ordinance O-26-42, which defines data centers and allows them in industrial districts, and Ordinance O-26-41, which rezones about 480 acres on US 68 South to Light Industrial. Both passed 5-2, with Councilmembers J. Schlabach and M. Snarr voting no. Council had already turned down the conditional-use approach on August 6, when Ordinance O-26-33 failed 1-5. The minutes note concerns about timing given the pending litigation. Service Director Michael Crowe told council on August 20 that he still supported making data centers a conditional use, which would require more public review. Speakers at both hearings asked council to drop emergency clauses that they said would keep the measures from going to referendum. The Wilmington News Journal reported on October 2 that Clinton County Residents for Responsible Development submitted 1,550 signatures for referendums on the Amazon measures. All three ordinances carry emergency clauses, and Ohio law generally exempts emergency measures from referendum, so those petitions face a legal hurdle. ## What staff recommend now The October staff report says Amazon "and its development team have responded often and well to concerns raised by City reviewers over the past year," and calls the plan "a high-quality proposal for a data center development in a light industrial district." The city engineer has approved the full-occupancy traffic study. A second study on construction routes is still under review. The report recommends approval on five conditions: 1\. Keep landscaping clear of water and sewer access 2\. Confirm tank and light pole heights so no variances are needed 3\. Verify fire hydrant locations 4\. Confirm fire truck access and redesign one parking lot if needed 5\. Follow the approved traffic studies The city's consulting engineer, Fishbeck, marked most earlier comments resolved in an October 21 letter but flagged remaining items, including spacing between water and sewer lines and missing plan sheets. The hearing will run under new procedures adopted for the site plan. Property owners within 500 feet, and anyone who files a notice two days ahead, can take part as a "Party of Record." Parties may present evidence and cross-examine the applicant, and Amazon's attorneys may cross-examine them. Other members of the public get three minutes each. ## Wilmington at the ballot box On September 18, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that a citizen-drafted Wilmington ordinance setting limits on data center noise, lighting, emissions, water use and heat could stay off the November ballot, because its clause letting residents sue to enforce it was beyond the city's power to enact. On November 3, Wilmington voters rejected four separate rezonings that council approved on February 19, 2026. The parcels total about 545 acres between South US 68 and SR 730 and are next to the Amazon site. Unofficial results show each rezoning defeated by about 80% to 20%. A representative of the parcels has said they "are unrelated to the AWS Data Center Project." The vote does not change the zoning of the Amazon site. | Parcel | Acres (council ordinance) | Result | | --- | --- | --- | | 1957 SR 730 (O-26-04) | 119.37 | Rezoning rejected | | SR 730 (O-26-05) | 65.29 | Rezoning rejected | | McGuinn Road (O-26-06) | 191.12 | Rezoning rejected | | US 68 South (O-26-07) | 170.11 | Rezoning rejected | ## The statewide ban A citizen group, Conserve Ohio, is collecting signatures for a constitutional amendment titled "Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center." Its text states: "The construction of a data center is hereby prohibited." It defines a data center as a facility with monthly demand or peak load above 25 megawatts and says the section is "self-executing," meaning it would take effect without action by the legislature. Attorney General Dave Yost certified the petition summary on March 26, 2026, and the Ohio Ballot Board certified on April 2 that it is a single amendment. Organizers needed more than 413,000 valid signatures by July 1 to make the 2026 ballot. In June they shifted their target to November 2, 2027. An October poll by Ohio Northern University and SurveyUSA found 57% of respondents would support a constitutional ban on new data centers above 25 megawatts. The amendment is not law, and nothing in state law today bars the Wilmington project. On its face, the amendment would bear on any large campus not yet built when it takes effect, and a campus with nine server buildings and about 250 backup generators would be far above 25 megawatts. The text does not say how it would treat projects that already hold local approvals, a question courts would likely have to settle. The ban is also winning locally. On November 3, voters in Conneaut, Defiance, Granville, Hubbard, Oregon, Pataskala, Piqua, Sunbury, Trenton, Upper Sandusky and Urbana approved data center bans, most aimed at facilities above 25 megawatts. Grove City now requires a public vote for developments above 20 megawatts, 50 contiguous acres or 500,000 gallons of water per day. In Trenton, about 80% of voters approved a ban organizers hope will keep an 18-building AWS campus out of the city, though that site sits just outside city limits. ## What happens next If the commission approves the site plan on November 10, Amazon would still need building permits, including for the generators, and state permits for air emissions and water and sewer lines. The original tax agreement, O-25-73, has not been passed in any record the city has posted. On October 15, Service Director Michael Crowe told council the project would bring more than $35 million in water, sewer and road improvements that Amazon would turn over to the city, and Safety Director Nick Eveland said Amazon has committed $28 million to build a new municipal safety center for fire, police and dispatch. Any referendum on the September votes would first have to get past their emergency clauses. Each step that pushes construction later moves the project closer to a November 2027 statewide vote on a ban. *This article is factual background and is not legal, financial, or investment advice.* ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhs.getobedio.com%2Fblog%2Famazons-wilmington-oh-data-center-heads-to-a-planning-commission-vote-on-november-10th-as-ohio-weighs-a-ban](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhs.getobedio.com%2Fblog%2Famazons-wilmington-oh-data-center-heads-to-a-planning-commission-vote-on-november-10th-as-ohio-weighs-a-ban) ## Keep reading ### [Ballot Measure Local Municipalities Sales Tax Georgia’s November 2026 Local Ballot Questions: 53 Local Sales Tax Referendums and More Than $4.5 Billion in Sales Tax Authority: A First Look at the Results](https://hs.getobedio.com/blog/georgias-november-2026-local-ballot-questions-53-local-sales-tax-referendums-and-more-than-4.5-billion-in-sales-tax-authority-a-first-look-at-the-results) ### [California Ballot Measure Local Municipalities California’s November 2026 Local Ballot Measures: 121 City Tax Measures and More Than $15.4 Billion in School Bonds: A First Look at the Results](https://hs.getobedio.com/blog/californias-november-2026-local-ballot-measures-121-city-tax-measures-and-more-than-15.4-billion-in-school-bonds-a-first-look-at-the-results) [![Obedio your municipal data source](https://hs.getobedio.com/hs-fs/hubfs/google%20workspace-1.png?width=100&height=41&name=google%20workspace-1.png "Obedio your municipal data source")](https://getobedio.com) Obedio's business intelligence platform provides data and insights from over 25,000 municipalities, enabling retail, manufacturing, finance, real estate, and government clients to make informed decisions, assess risk, and identify opportunities. **Data Source & Liability Disclaimer:** The data presented on this website is aggregated from various official government and public entities ("The Original Government Sources"). 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