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HUBBARD TOWNSHIP – It’s been nearly a year since trustees put a data center moratorium in place, and residents will have the chance to have their voice heard in the coming weeks.
Trustees at Wednesday’s meeting set a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Hubbard High School Auditorium to discuss data center zoning language proposed by the township’s zoning commission that was unsealed at a Tuesday’s meeting. Trustees will have 20 days after the meeting to decide whether to adopt or reject the proposal, according to Trustee Monica Baker at the meeting.
The proposed language comes after trustees voted 2-1 to approve a resolution placing a one-year moratorium on data centers entering the township in February, noting a desire to stay proactive and ensuring proper updates are done to the township’s future plan.
As for what that language looks like, documents obtained after the meeting show that the zoning resolution, an unnumbered article of the zoning code for the time being, will permit data centers, high-energy use facilities, battery energy storage systems, private substations, generator yards and large-scale cooling facilities as conditional uses – only upon proof that the use will not create adverse effects related to noise, vibration, lighting, traffic, water demand, waste and stormwater, emergency services and as well as utility infrastructure, neighboring property values or the quiet enjoyment of surrounding residential property.
The article would require data centers and their accessory uses to have a minimum setback of 300 feet from any residential zoning districts or uses and a minimum 500-foot setback from educational institutions, youth and community centers, recreational facilities, parks or religious institutions, as well a medical facilities or other uses where people under age 21 gather regularly.
A minimum of 100 acres would be required for any data center campus or high energy industrial use.
Facilities that abut a residential, institutional or business district use or public right-of-way would require enhanced screening or a screen planting buffer, which would include fencing and a double row of evergreens a minimum of three feet tall, planted 10 feet apart.
The article states light poles would be located at least 10 feet from any street right-of-way or property line, fully shielded and reflected away from adjacent streets and properties, and the lights must be Dark Sky compliant.
No illuminated signs would be allowed to face residential areas and would have to comply with existing regulations.
The article states that any applicant would be required to, through a sound study conducted by a qualified professional, that sound generated by a data center or accessory use during normal operations would be limited to a maximum sustained daytime decibel level of 60 dB and a maximum nighttime and weekend level of 57 dB, measured from the property line of the use.
The article states no tonal, pulsing, humming or vibration noise would be permitted, and any noise with a pure tone, vibration or recurring pulse would be considered a violation – even if the decibel level passes requirements.
The article states that if the applicant wants to connect the data center or accessory uses to the electric grid, they must provide documentation from the electric service provider certifying that the capacity is available, and that it would serve the data center or its accessory uses.
In terms of water supply, a common concern from groups pushing back against data centers, any proposal must include a letter from the operator providing an analysis of the anticipated raw water needs and proposed sources, and, if the source is to be supplied by a public supply, the applicant is to have written documentation certifying the water authority has the capacity to provide it.
The article would prohibit evaporative cooling unless approved, only allowing closed loop cooling, and well drilling is also banned, with water to be purchased from the public water supply or trucked in.
Direct or outtake of water from the Shenango River and its tributaries also will be banned.
The article also would require applicants to demonstrate a fair means of wastewater disposal, including domestic wastewater and wastewater used for cooling and industrial purposes, approved and provided by the local sanitary authority and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
As for aesthetics, data centers or data center accessory uses would be required to have a maximum height of 35 feet and, if it faces a road or existing residential use, would be barred from having blank warehouse-style walls and comply with having Earth-tone colors, masonry or decorative facades, as well as a change in building material, pattern, texture or color and a change in building height every 150 horizontal feet.
A second motion approved by the zoning commission that has yet to be approved by trustees would set other standards and approval requirements, such as large-scale data centers being permitted by right, but subject to site approval, facilities with a critical IT load of less than 10 megawatts being permitted by right and large-scale facilities with critical IT load of 10 or more MW being allowed by conditional use permits.
The motion also includes data centers being prohibited in all residential, agricultural, conservation and flood plain zoning districts.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
A lengthy public comments session followed the meeting, with Tom Jacobs, a resident who spent 16 years as a trustee, warning that allowing a data center into the community would open a “Pandora’s Box”.
“We fought the landfills, the trustees did; we fought the fracking wells — we would not let them change the zoning from residential to industrial,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said allowing a data center to change zoning from commercial residential to industrial could lead to landfill and fracking entities to accuse trustees of discriminating illegally against them.
“And some judge will give them the authority to change it, and what you’re going to have, you’re going to have the data center, you’ll have a landfill and you’ll have fracking wells,” Jacobs said. “What family in their right mind wants to move into a community where there’s data centers, fracking and landfills?”
Katie Matola-Costello, another resident, shared that she turned in 501 signatures from residents to officials protesting data centers, which was met with a round of applause.
“As somebody who was part of the city and the township, thank you guys for being much more reasonable and listening and hearing — and please just keep doing that,” Costello said.