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Athens City Council approves a one-year moratorium on data centers
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Athens City Council on Monday approved a one-year moratorium on any attempts to build a data center in city limits.
The moratorium is intended to give city officials time to review the zoning code and make changes to specifically address issues raised by data centers, including significant energy and water consumption.
The moratorium was inspired by a New York developer’s interest in potentially building a data center on land across the highway from Athens High School.
However, the moratorium will not apply to that location because it is outside the city, a point Councilmember Michael Wood emphasized.
“This won’t stop that other data center,” he said. “It’s good that we’re doing this. That’s great. I hope that people continue to stay involved and take it to the other bodies, county commissioners, the other folks that do have agency over the whole county, to actually make this something broader.”
The trustees for Athens Township, which includes the property across from the high school, passed their own data center moratorium on Saturday.
The city of Athens’ moratorium places a one-year pause on granting or issuing any permits for a data center. In the meantime, the city will consult with an outside firm to review the zoning code and suggest changes.
Mayor Steve Patterson said people have asked him about the likelihood of a data center attempting to locate in the city.
“Could this happen in the city of Athens? It could. It could,” he told council members. “We need as much time as we possibly can get … to make sure we get things in place and we get this done.”
With that in mind, Patterson asked the council to add language to the moratorium allowing him or the city’s service safety director to extend the moratorium by another year if more time is needed to complete the zoning review. The language was added.
In just the past year, developers have proposed data centers throughout southeast Ohio. Many of these communities have no zoning codes. But for those that do, data centers are such a recent development in this part of the state that zoning codes do not address them, which is why the city is trying to buy some time.
Councilmember Paul Isherwood said the moratorium is a message to developers that “we’re not ready for this, this is not a location where you will find right now that we are able to accommodate what you are looking for.”
Several Athens residents spoke in favor of the moratorium at Monday night’s meeting.
Aimee Delach, a former member of the city’s Environment and Sustainability commission, said putting at least a temporary pause on data center development is consistent with the city’s environmental goals. These include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing energy and water use and building a sustainable economy.
She noted that data centers use a tremendous amount of energy to power the servers and keep them cool, which also can result in significant water consumption depending on the cooling system used.
If data centers draw their power from the grid, this can result in costly infrastructure upgrades that can drive up rates for everyone, Delach noted. Even if they provide their own power source, she said, it’s typically through natural gas-fired turbines, which increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Delach also noted that data centers typically rely on diesel generators as a backup power source, which can create significant air pollution.
Aurora Charlow, who said she has a history of respiratory issues, noted that “the potential for air pollution in the city is extremely concerning to me.”
Rob Delach, who chairs the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, said it’s important for the city “to get our ducks in a row and this moratorium will help us do that.”
At the same time, he said it’s not a given that a data center development would be a bad thing for the city.
“I’m not necessarily opposed to all data centers,” he said. “I think that done right it could be a good idea. There could be good economic benefit if we check all the boxes and make sure it’s addressing all our concerns. That is possible, I think.”