LORDSTOWN — Wanting to be as knowledgeable as they can about data centers and what the village needs to have in place to address them, officials and residents heard Monday from a professional land use planner who has dealt with data centers.

Brian Frantz, director of planning, zoning and economic development for the village of Richfield, near Cleveland, spoke at a moratorium committee meeting.

Councilman Mark McGrail, chairman of the committee, said the committee invited Frantz to speak.

“This meeting was not to discuss being for or against data centers, but to gather information,” McGrail said.

Frantz, who has been a professional planner for 28 years, said data centers are becoming more and more the emerging land use trend across the nation. He said he is often asked to testify on behalf of communities dealing with data centers.

Frantz said he was contacted by Village Solicitor Matt Ries, who explained the situation in Lordstown where Bristolville 25 Developer, LLC and BHGH Properties, LLC are seeking a court order to force the village to review their plan for a proposed data center in the village.

Mayor Jackie Woodward said the case is still pending with the Ohio Supreme Court.

“You are not the only community dealing with a data center. They have become hugely popular right now as a land use, especially in the Midwest. We are seeing more of them in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. These data centers are kind of catching us off guard and being located in smaller jurisdictions. You typically do not see them in the larger cities, but they tend to go to greenfield areas, which is what they want to be located on,” Frantz said.

He said the most common issues surrounding data centers are the impact on the environment, economics and quality of life issues for residents.

Frantz said with data centers, the issue is one of land use.

“You can take an inclusive approach or a prohibition approach to data centers. That is up to you as the local jurisdiction. You need to understand what is involved with either approach,” he said.

Ries said the village has a statutory form of government and must abide by the Ohio Revised Code when addressing zoning and land use matters.

Frantz said the village needs to look at the zoning code to determine where a data center can or cannot be located.

WHAT IS A DATA CENTER?

He said data centers are typically defined as facilities used for the storage, management, processing and transmitting of digital data that houses computer network equipment systems and appliances with utility substations and storage areas.

“You need to make sure you define what data centers are in your zoning code and where they can be located,” Frantz said, noting they should not be in residential districts, but industrial areas.

He said officials need to look at “sensitive receptor” land uses that include schools and daycares, health facilities, residential areas and places of worship. Frantz said guidelines in the zoning code should include conditional use permits dealing with height, setback, parking, noise levels and lighting.

“The conditionally permitted use allows you as a community to have more control or say on the land use and impacts associated with the land use,” Frantz said.

He said getting a conditional use permit would require going through the planning and zoning commission and identifying what regulations are pertinent to the land use.

“With data centers, you need to pay close attention to the design and placement of the building. They are often very large — 200,000-square-feet or more on 50 to 100 acres,” Frantz said.

He said residents are often concerned about noise and lighting from the center.

“Many people often comment on hearing a constant humming with data centers. There are ways to study that. With the conditional use permit, you can include noise levels, lighting and other items in your codes, which are part of the permit process,” Frantz said.

He said the village decides whether or not to accept the conditional use permit for the land use if certain conditions are met.

Residents asked if the number of data centers in a community can be limited if there is already one, like some communities have done with the number of dollar stores. Frantz said a community can say there can only be one.

He said the village can do an environmental and community impact analysis to outline positive and negative impacts. Frantz said the village could look at impacts on water supply, sewage disposal, emergency services, solid waste disposal, electric utility consumption, lighting and noise.

As for the prohibited approach, Frantz said the village could adopt legislation, amend the zoning code, have a land use plan and look at existing zoning patterns before making a decision.

“You want to take meaningful and appropriate action relative to the direction and anticipate related issues to either inclusion or prohibition,” Frantz said.

Frantz said for an inclusive approach, the village should research appropriate regulations and amend the zoning code accordingly. He said for the prohibition approach, council should determine the health, safety and general welfare issues, prepare legislation and amend the zoning code accordingly.

Woodward said no decision was made following the presentation, but the members of the moratorium committee can bring data centers up before council at the next meeting April 6.

“Council can decide whether to embrace or reject data centers,” she said.

There is a 180-day moratorium on data centers in the village that was implemented in January. However, Bristolville 25 argues that their plan for the data center was submitted before the moratorium, and before that, an outright ban, was in place.