Butler County boards set public hearing Aug. 4 after sweeping revisions to draft data-center rules

County staff and elected officials met July 21 for a joint work session of the Butler County Board of County Commissioners and the Planning Commission to review a new draft of proposed data-center regulations and an accompanying application.

Terry, the staff presenter, told the boards the draft dated 07/21/2026 incorporates many suggestions from a July 7 public-comment session and that the published public hearing is set for 08/04/2026 at 7:00 p.m. He asked participants to pull the packet materials and noted the county had produced three drafts (June 23, July 7, July 21) as part of an iterative process. “Public, published public hearing is set for 08/04/2026 at 07:00PM,” Terry said to mark the next procedural milestone.

Staff described the application process as staged: a core submission (legal description, project narrative, site plans, utility letters), a middle stage of required studies and any requested waivers, and conditional-use permitting with remaining studies as conditions. Toby Stewart, identified in the meeting as the county’s director of community development, walked the boards through typical exhibits—an energy-usage plan, water-feasibility analysis, traffic-impact study, and decommissioning/site-restoration plans—and emphasized that some studies will be submitted later in the review process rather than at initial submittal.

Terry and Toby told the boards they would deliver a clean document and a red-line version ahead of the August hearing. The meeting adjourned by motion and unanimous vote.