The fight over data centers in northwest Ohio just spread to two more Lucas County suburbs.

Waterville City Council accepted citizen petitions on Monday, Nov. 9, for a proposed charter amendment that would block data-center construction in the city. The petitions, submitted Nov. 6, would add Section 10.09 — “Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center” — to Article X of Waterville’s charter, according to the Toledo Free Press.

Resident Lisa Haberstock read a statement at the meeting explaining that under the Ohio Constitution, if a charter-amendment petition has enough valid signatures, the city must put the question to voters. Law Director Austin Klapp said the amendment is being reviewed by the Lucas County Board of Elections.

13abc reported Nov. 6 that the Waterville and Whitehouse petitions seek a 10-megawatt cap on data centers. Whitehouse residents filed a similar petition the same week.

The move comes one week after Ohio voters overwhelmingly backed local limits on data centers in the Nov. 3 election — 21 measures across the state, with the restriction side winning nearly all of them. In Oregon, voters killed a proposed $1 billion data center, and the city is now tightening its budget after the project withdrew. Rossford residents packed a council meeting this week to fight a rezoning that could bring a data center to Lime City Road, while Genoa voters said no to a data center on 430 acres by 92%.

At the same Waterville meeting, council approved rezoning 48 acres at 8451 and 8551 Neapolis Waterville Road from Agricultural to M-1 Light Industrial. The Toledo Lucas County Port Authority owns the land, and Port vice president of business development Joe Cappel told council the site is ideal for small manufacturing, engineering, light industrial and warehousing — but “not appropriate for a data center, as it is too close to housing.”

“We want development that will create good paying jobs and help the tax base of Waterville,” Cappel said, adding the Port acquired the land to build “more manufacturing, engineering, light industrial and warehousing – good jobs in the community.”

Supporters of the limits say large data centers strain power and water supplies and belong nowhere near homes. Developers and economic-development officials counter that the projects bring investment and tax revenue, and that outright bans push development — and the jobs that come with it — to other communities.

What happens next: if the Board of Elections validates enough signatures, Waterville council must pass an ordinance putting the amendment on the ballot at the next regular municipal election, or at a special election within 60 to 120 days.

Server room photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)