Pataskala City Council voted unanimously Aug. 25 to reject Aligned Data Centers' proposal for a 200-megawatt facility, the latest sign of data center resistance spreading through central Ohio communities near New Albany's business park.

Council accepted the Planning and Zoning Commission's earlier 5-2 recommendation to deny the project, which was planned for the intersection of Broad and Mink streets. The vote followed hours of public testimony from residents raising concerns about water consumption, noise, health risks and the visual impact of a four-story building in a landscape of farm fields.

"There was big concerns with the power alone," Council President Brandon Galik told NBC4. "The design was incomplete. We didn't have the full design for the power. … Without seeing the power, it was hard to accept that plan."

Galik said the Ohio Power Siting Board holds jurisdiction over what can ultimately be built, making the incomplete power design a dealbreaker for council.

Resident Brandyn Bernard summed up the opposition's mood before the vote: the proposed four-story building would be "a big eyesore" in a community surrounded by corn and wheat fields, he said. Holly Wenzinger, another resident, cited the lack of long-term studies on the effects of large-scale data center facilities.

There are no existing data centers in Pataskala, according to city administrator Tim Hickin.

What it means for New Albany

The rejection matters to New Albany residents because the city's data center economy operates in the same regional corridor. New Albany collects $10 million annually from a special assessment on data centers in the New Albany International Business Park, revenue that has funded a police station expansion, a veterans' memorial and a natural space with walking trails and a playground, community development director Jennifer Chrysler told Bloomberg Tax. The business park now has 68 data center buildings complete or under construction, covering more than 14.5 million square feet.

But neighboring communities have pushed back. Plain City enacted a six-month moratorium Aug. 10. Grove City approved its own moratorium in June. Sunbury will join Pataskala in putting a data center ban question before voters Nov. 3, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

What's next

Pataskala voters will still weigh in on the broader question Nov. 3, when a referendum asks whether to ban data centers using more than 25 megawatts of power per month. That threshold is enough electricity to power roughly 20,000 homes, according to a congressional report. Organizers collected 401 valid signatures to place the measure on the ballot, and council approved it 4-0 as an emergency on Aug. 3.