TRENTON, OH − An Amazon data center faces another roadblock in southwest Ohio after two rural townships refused to give up land to accommodate the project.
Trenton is trying to annex about 600 acres in neighboring Madison and St. Clair townships to build an 18-building data center for Amazon Web Services
outside the municipality's boundaries. But in August, the boards of trustees for both townships voted to object to the proposed annexation.The Butler County Board of Commissioners will weigh whether to allow the annexation during a meeting Sept. 15. If the commissioners approve the annexation, the townships will have no way to appeal under Ohio law.
The hearing follows the Trenton City Council certifying a petition Sept. 3 that will allow residents
to vote to ban data centers from the city.
Why townships oppose annexation
In nearly identical resolutions filed with the Butler County Board of Commissioners, the trustees from the objecting townships said the data center would create "road problems" on several streets. They also said annexation would complicate which jurisdiction is responsible for maintaining the roads around the data center.
Madison Township Trustee Jeff Willoughby said some of his main concerns are traffic and stormwater runoff from construction. He wants Trenton to create a written road maintenance agreement with the townships that details which municipality is responsible for what roads, he said.
"They say in the next five years, they'll have 5,000 plus workers per day coming into that site," Willoughby told The Enquirer. "That's going to have a huge impact on the traffic of the area, the people who live in that area, just trying to get in and out of their driveways."
Willoughby said that Ohio's annexation laws "are written not favorably toward townships," offering limited ways townships can push back.
Trenton is trying to annex the land under an expedited process for major economic development projects. Under Ohio law, if both townships and Trenton had agreed to the annexation, the commissioners would have had to adopt it − a faster alternative to the traditional annexation process.
However, because both townships objected, it triggered a Board of Commissioners hearing.
The board must approve or reject the petition within 30 days of the hearing, or Oct. 15. If the commissioners deny the annexation, the property owners of the land can appeal. However, Ohio law states that if the commissioners approve the annexation over the townships' objections, and the townships would not have the ability to challenge the decision.
What the city says
During a presentation at the Trenton City Council's meeting Sept. 3, city staff said annexation supports the city's economic and population growth.
"All agreed on the roadway, utility, noise, and other environmental standards the project will be held to," a slide in the presentation read. "The only sticking point at the end seemed to be financial and regarding future annexations."
Annexation would also impact the effectiveness of a potential ban on data centers in Trenton. Residents will decide this November whether to amend Trenton's charter to ban the construction of data centers in city limits.
In the Sept. 3 presentation, city officials said only data centers "within city limits would apply to the pending ballot measure." Data centers on land owned by separate townships would still be able to move forward, even if the ban passes in November. If the land isn't annexed but the Amazon Web Services project moves forward, it would be outside Trenton city limits and in the two townships.
Trustees trying to get 'best agreement'
Amazon Web Services offered the townships each $5 million through a community reinvestment grant, which is supposed to help the community that lives around a data center. Willoughby said Madison Township hasn't yet accepted this offer − the details of which haven't been released publicly − and won't until there are more protections in place for residents.
"We're trying to get the best agreement we could for the township," he said.
The Butler County Board of Commissioners in June approved a six-month moratorium on new data centers in six of its townships, including Madison. The moratorium, which expires in December, prohibits government action that "could result in the acceptance and processing" of applications or land-use approval for data centers.
Despite this moratorium, Ohio law separately mandates that the commissioners must hear the annexation petition. And if Trenton successfully annexes the land from Madison Township, it becomes exempt from the moratorium.
"We're struggling with everyone else when these data centers come, you really don't know what to expect," Willoughby said. "We've heard a lot of horror stories, and we'd rather not have our township be negatively impacted by construction or (an) existing data center."
If you go
What: Butler County Commissioners hearing on Trenton's proposed annexation.
When: Sept. 15. The hearing will start at 10:30 a.m. or immediately following the board's regularly scheduled meeting.
Where: Butler County Government Services Center, First Floor Conference Room, 315 High St., Hamilton, OH.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio county could pave way for data center after townships said no
