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LORDSTOWN – Village officials say a recent decision by the Ohio Supreme Court in a lawsuit filed over a permit by a company does not mean data centers are banned from Lordstown.
Solicitor Matt Ries said the Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of the village on a data center lawsuit.
“This is a significant victory for the village of Lordstown and municipalities in general. The Ohio Supreme Court's unanimous decision prevents developers from bulldozing their way through a municipality's local zoning ordinances and recognizes that municipalities can authorize moratoriums to evaluate new and emerging land uses and adopt appropriate regulations to protect the health, safety and welfare of their residents, which is critical given the recent advent of data center inquiries spreading throughout Northeast Ohio,” Ries said.
He said the village has a moratorium in place as it reviews data centers and works to get information on data centers or other businesses that would want to locate in the village.
The planning commission is also working to add information into the village zoning code.
Ries recommended council plan to extend the moratorium that is in place into 2027.
“This would give us the time to put the finishing touches on the planning and zoning ordinances. We can remove the moratorium any time after that.” Ries said,
“This was a good ruling for the village and for municipalities,” Ries said.
Bristolville 25 Developer LLC, a real estate and development company proposing a large-scale data center complex in Lordstown, was seeking a permit from the village zoning department in 2025.
“They wanted to proceed with their data center and circumvent our moratorium based on the timing of when they claim they say they initiated site plan review with the village. Our position was you do not have a legally protected property invested interest unless you go through our planning commission program. They wanted to proceed in October 2025,” he said.
Mayor Jackie Woodward said people need to understand the ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court covered one case and does not mean there would never be a data center in the village.
“I think for some people there is a misconception. We have the moratorium in place as we review data centers more and get guidelines in place,” she said.
Councilman Mark McGrail said the moratorium committee is getting close to the final product on what officials would like to see on regulating data centers.
In other matters at this week’s meeting, council:
• Gave second reading to increasing the salary of the full-time elected clerk from $69,243 to $75,663.
• Announced a mobile food market will be in the village 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at village administration building parking lot.
• Heard from Road Supervisor Martin Nelder that paving work was done on Henn Parkway and Lyntz Road.
• Heard from Woodward the village applied for a $9,500 cybersecurity grant from the Ohio Department of Homeland Security, with a local share of $2,375.