Residents warn Rossford Council about possible nearby data-center land purchases, urge safeguards
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Summary
Multiple residents told the Rossford City Council on Jan. 12 they have seen large cash purchases and infrastructure work near Fremont Pike and Lime City Road and urged the city to coordinate with township officials and consider safeguards if data-center development moves forward.
Several residents used the public-comment portion of the Jan. 12 Rossford City Council meeting to raise alarms about potential data-center development on land near the Fremont Pike/Lime City/Thompson Road corridor and nearby townships.
Chris Coltrick told the council he believes a data center is being planned on parcels east of Kazmaier’s property; he said two Sherman parcels appeared to have sold for about $1.1 million each and that he’d seen other nearby property transactions and infrastructure work (including gas-line and substation upgrades). Coltrick said he had spoken with township officials and asked Rossford to coordinate with Perrysburg Township to avoid being played against one another. “I don't think that data centers are a good fit for Wood County,” Coltrick said, citing concerns about electricity rates and water use.
Jackie Brown, who said she had researched recent purchases, told the council some properties were bought in cash, including purchases she described as “over $8,000,000 in cash” for clusters of parcels and $1.75 million for one Route 20 LLC purchase. She urged the council to scrutinize buyers and recommended reviewing other jurisdictions’ regulations for data centers.
Reagan Strong raised environmental questions, saying the EPA may not test for certain materials these facilities use and urging caution about potential local effects even if a facility is located in Perrysburg Township.
Mayor and staff responses emphasized the city’s land-use process: the mayor noted that building codes, zoning and planning-commission review apply and that any large industrial proposal would require multiple utility, environmental and permitting studies likely to take years. The mayor said, “Nobody can just come in here and build anything they like,” and described permitting as a multi-year process that must address power, water and sewer capacity.
What the comments mean: Residents asked the council to monitor land sales, request transparency on major purchases and consider interjurisdictional coordination (JEDDS) with township officials if a large project is proposed. The transcript records specific claims about past electric-rate changes in other states after data-center openings (12% in Ohio, 13% in Virginia, 16% in Illinois, as cited by a speaker); those figures were presented by a resident and not verified during the meeting.
Next steps: Council said the planning commission and regular zoning processes apply; the administration indicated it would be responsive to requests for information and that county approval would be required for annexation or other jurisdictional changes.