PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Pierce Township Zoning Commission will move its Oct. 6 meeting to a local elementary school as it resumes discussion of how to regulate data centers in the township, according to the township.
The commission is scheduled to convene at 6 p.m. at Locust Corner Elementary School, 3431 Locust Corner Road, rather than its usual meeting site, the township said in a Facebook post. The agenda lists a discussion of data centers as the panel’s sole item of old business, with introductory remarks followed by continued small-group discussion and public comment, according to the meeting agenda posted on the township’s website.
The discussion continues a monthslong review the commission began over the summer. On Aug. 4, the zoning commission voted unanimously, 4-0, to recommend that the Board of Trustees extend a moratorium on data center development while the panel works out how to regulate the use, according to township records. The commission also heard a presentation from Crane Data Centers, a developer and operator of large-scale data center facilities, at its Sept. 1 meeting.
The Board of Trustees acted on the commission’s recommendation Sept. 9, voting unanimously to adopt Resolution No. 2026-007, extending the township’s moratorium on data center uses through May 31, 2027. Under the resolution, Pierce Township will not accept, process or issue zoning permits, zoning certificates, site plan approvals or other development approvals for data center uses during the moratorium period.
The resolution states that Pierce Township’s zoning code does not currently define or specifically regulate data center uses, and that the extension gives the Board of Trustees and township staff time to study the land-use compatibility, infrastructure demand, utility consumption, noise, building scale and long-term impacts associated with data centers before amending the zoning resolution. Trustees Allen M. Freeman, Nicholas J. Kelly and Joe Sheppard each voted in favor, according to the resolution.
Ohio townships establish zoning commissions to review proposed changes to zoning maps and regulations and forward recommendations to township trustees, who hold final zoning authority. The public is welcome to attend the Oct. 6 meeting, the township said.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Pierce Township.