CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Chillicothe City Council adopted an emergency moratorium on new data center zoning permits Aug. 24, immediately halting the city’s acceptance of such applications after weeks of resident pushback against a proposed local project.
Council members voted to add the moratorium to that night’s agenda, then waived the standard three-reading rule to pass it as Ordinance 44-26, allowing it to take effect immediately rather than after the customary 30-day waiting period, according to meeting minutes released by the city. The ordinance bars the city from accepting or issuing zoning permits and approvals for new data center uses in Chillicothe.
The vote followed weeks of pressure from residents over a data center project planned for the former paper mill site, which developers have said would include high-performance computing capacity. Several residents used an Aug. 10 council meeting to call for a moratorium, with one resident specifically urging a six-month pause.
During audience participation Aug. 24, resident Jamie Brown celebrated the addition of the moratorium to the agenda, while resident Jeff McCarty, of Lunbeck Road, told council he was concerned about incorrect information being spread about data centers, according to the minutes. Mayor Luke Feeney also addressed the moratorium item during his report to council that night, the minutes said.
Council used the same fast-track process to adopt three other measures at the meeting: an ordinance designating public depositories for the city’s active and interim deposits under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 135, a $15,000 appropriation for Canada goose management services at Yoctangee Park, and an ordinance accepting $5,183 in program income from the Ohio Regional Development Corporation tied to a mortgage release.
Other agenda items, including proposed opioid settlement funding for local nonprofits and a resolution letting the mayor negotiate a lease for new council chambers at the Foulke Block, received first and second readings and were held over to a future meeting, the minutes said.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Chillicothe City Council’s Aug. 24 meeting minutes.
