Chillicothe residents will get a formal say in how the city writes zoning rules for data centers at a public input meeting set for Monday, November 16, Mayor Luke Feeney announced during Monday night’s City Council meeting. The session runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the newly renovated Yoctangee Park Armory Building, 199 North Paint Street.
The meeting will gather public input on zoning for data centers, data halls, battery backup storage systems and cryptocurrency exchange and mining facilities, according to Councilwoman Kathy Dunn, who chairs council’s Engineering Committee and serves as a council-at-large member. Feedback from the session will be used to draft a new section of the city’s Unified Development Code.
“Public input from the meeting will be used to create a new section of the City’s Unified Development Code,” Dunn said. The Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce has also submitted guidance to the city’s Planning Commission as officials weigh how to regulate the facilities.
Data centers have dominated Chillicothe’s government agenda for much of the year. Council voted 8-1 on September 14 to rescind the city’s 60-day data center moratorium after a February 20 zoning-certification letter from Chief Building Official Brandon Gill surfaced stating that a data center was a permitted use in the GI General Industrial District. City officials have since used a moratorium approach to buy time while permanent regulations are developed.
Residents have filled council chambers repeatedly to raise concerns about large power usage, water consumption, wastewater treatment, noise and environmental impact from proposed facilities, including discussion around the former paper mill site. At a council session in late September, Feeney told the audience the building department had not received any data center zoning applications.
The November 16 meeting is the city’s structured step toward permanent rules rather than emergency measures. Residents who want their views reflected in the new code section — on where these facilities may locate, and what standards they must meet — can speak at the Armory session, and council will use that record as it drafts the zoning language in the weeks that follow.