Ashville just put a 180-day pause on new data centers, but existing zoning and a 2022 “Will Serve” letter still legally allow facilities like the proposed EdgeConneX build.
The real battle is over leverage: the village administrator is warning that if they fight and lose, Ashville gets the data center but no negotiated infrastructure upgrades, environmental protections, or broader community benefits.
State politics are now part of the AI infra story here, with Ohio legislators trying to roll back sales tax exemptions for data center construction, and the governor keeping those incentives alive with a veto that could still be challenged.
Neighboring South Bloomfield is tightening zoning by making data centers a non-permitted use and also using a 180-day moratorium to buy time and keep options open.
For GPU-heavy AI builds, this is another signal that local zoning, tax breaks, and energy-and-water concerns are becoming hard constraints, not afterthoughts, especially in fast-growing regions like Central Ohio.
Operators and vendors planning large AI campuses in secondary markets will need more upfront community engagement and legal groundwork, not just power and fiber math.
Worth a read for how local politics, tax policy, and zoning can make or break regional AI data center clusters.
Source: Ashville Council Approves 180-Day Moratorium as Data Center Opposition Grows – Scioto Post
