After Rossford, Genoa Is Next: 92% of Voters Say No to a Data Center on 430 Acres
Residents of the village of Genoa in Ottawa County are joining the growing statewide push to restrict large-scale data centers — and they have numbers on their side. The fight centers on a potential project on 430 acres south of State Route 163 along Reiman Road, near homes. Residents worry about the effect on water resources and wildlife, plus noise and light pollution a project near residential neighborhoods could bring. The village annexed the property three years ago, which led to studies of what could be built on the empty fields.
“If we sit back and let it roll over us, we’ll get it,” said Marc Hanneman of Residents Against Genoa Environmental Destruction. “I wish they’d slow down, moratorium, re-zone it. We could put it into apartments, we could put it into residential, we could do a lot of things… greenhouse, warehouse,” Hanneman said.
Residents face a key obstacle: some Ohio communities have added bans or restrictions to their charters, but Genoa does not have a charter, so residents are looking into creating one. “We’re looking into a charter, turning our village into a charter,” Hanneman said — a charter could give the community a way to put guardrails in place.
Residents are also joining a statewide effort with Conserve Ohio to petition for a ban on large-scale data centers. The group plans to collect signatures Friday, Nov. 13, at the Genoa Retirement Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. near the potential project site. Hanneman said the group conducted exit polling after the recent election: “92% is against a data center coming into Genoa. This is registered voters coming from the polls saying that they don’t want it.”
According to Ohio State University, 18 Ohio communities have had ballot issues related to data center development, and voters sided against data centers in each case, often by a wide margin.
Photo: Hay Kranen / Wikimedia Commons (illustrative image of a data center exterior)
Source: 13abc
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