DOVER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — At a public meeting of the Dover Township Trustees last Thursday, Sept. 3, attendees expressed concerns about a potential data center, and one trustee signaled an interest in holding a public vote on the issue.
In July, the Independent reported that the New York-based firm Saadia Holdings LLC had inquired with the county about the land-use regulations for nearly 300 acres on the Athens-Dover township line along U.S. 33, with interest in developing a 250,000-square-foot data center.
John Zook, an Athens County resident who worked in the city before he retired, said at the meeting that he lives “right next door” to the proposed site, which is across from Athens High School.
Zook said data centers around the country generate a loud droning noise, and he played audio of a high-decibel screeching sound he said was noise pollution from one of the facilities.
Zook also said he was skeptical about the number of jobs the project would create. Saadia Holdings told township, county and City of Athens officials in July that the proposed data center would employ 100 people, but experts note that data centers usually employ only 20–50 people, and construction workers often come from other areas to perform specialized labor.
Due to the considerable water and electricity data centers require, Zook predicted that residents’ utility costs will increase. “Our rates will go up,” Zook said.
He added that real estate firms, anticipating large-scale development near his home, recently made a dozen offers to purchase his estimated 120-acre property.
“In the last week-and-a-half, I’ve had 12 different out-of-state real estate agents call me wanting to buy my land,” Zook said.
Dover Township Trustee Chris Russell said he is also getting offers on his property. “You’re lucky because I get about two [calls] everyday, and I only got a five-acre piece,” he replied.
O. Gassaway, who lives near Zook, told the trustees that there is not enough infrastructure in place for the construction and maintenance of a data center in the community.
“I don’t have internet on my street, I don’t have water on my street,” Gassaway said. “To put all that in place” for a corporation, he said, “just seems ridiculous.”
Russell agreed that the community was not prepared to serve the considerable needs of a data center. “The roads are not going to handle it. Water and sewer are not going to handle it,” Russell said. “We just don’t have the infrastructure.”
Later in the meeting, Russell clarified that he was not necessarily opposed to (or in favor of) a data center in the area, but reinforced his position that the infrastructure to support one does not yet exist. Russell noted that local water and sewer plants, plus “our little township road,” are insufficient for an enormous development.
“I always want to bring jobs in, but it appears as if data centers are not something that’s great,” he said. “But I don’t want to say I’m against it when I don’t know enough about it.”
Russell recommended holding a public vote on whether a data center is welcome in Dover Township, but he was unsure if the trustees or a public vote have the authority to block construction. “We can say, ‘We pass a moratorium.’ It carries no weight, and that’s the reason we didn’t just go ahead and do it,” Russell said.
In early August, the Athens Township Trustees instituted a yearlong moratorium on the approval of zoning permits for the data center, providing more time to review environmental impacts, public safety concerns and land use regulations. The pause followed an outpouring of community opposition to a data center in the area.
But Dover Township, like other communities in the county, lacks land restrictions that could prevent construction.
While specific areas in Athens Township have established zoning codes, there is no county-wide zoning in place. As the Independent reported in July, if built on Dover Township property, the center could avoid local governmental review.
Eric Boll contributed reporting to this story.
