MONCLOVA – After learning that land around the Shops at Fallen Timbers could be marketed for a data center, dozens of residents converged in front of the Monclova Township administration building on Nov. 3. Many of those protesting came from the 600-home Waterside development, which is just north of the mall.
“It’s important for everyone in the area to know about,” said Waterside resident Carol Fornia, who said after reading about the impacts of data centers, “I knew I had to do something. It affects our lives and our properties.”
For nearly an hour, trustees Chuck Hoecherl, Barbara Lang, Trudy Vicary and fiscal officer Gavin Pike fielded questions and comments from dozens of residents, including Ryan Bauman, Brian Cline, Lyn Cox, Lance Daggett, Christine Egan, John Hagan, Pattie Kaczala and Risa Sindel.
The overall theme that emerged: what can residents, and the township, do to fight off a data center or stop the annexation of land into Maumee – which would then have control over the project? Except for Karnik on Black and a few houses, all of the land east of Black Road is now annexed into Maumee.
“We fought it and lost,” Hoecherl said of the years-long creeping of Maumee city boundaries into the township.
Isaac Land Development owns the Maumee land around the mall, while across Black Road to the west, Monclova Properties LLC is the majority property owner with 160 acres of agriculturally-zoned land.
When trustees learned that data centers might be interested in building in the township, trustees voted earlier this year to allow data centers in agriculturally-zoned properties with a conditional use permit. This would give the Board of Zoning Appeals the power to set limitations on lighting, sound, buffering, building height and other aspects of a project, Hoecherl said. While Maumee may determine the fate of the land around the mall, this text amendment to the zoning code gives the township some control over the land to the west, he noted.
“Do you think you opened Pandora’s box by having that text agreement?” asked Kaczala.
Cline, Daggett and Hagan also questioned why including data centers as an option through a text amendment was even considered.
“By changing it, you opened the door,” Daggett said, suggesting that trustees should have waited until an application for rezoning was presented instead of changing the zoning code first. “You’re allowing it by changing the code.”
Pike said if trustees didn’t at least put some language in its zoning code, that Monclova property owners considering a data center would have a reason to immediately annex into Maumee – taking any power to regulate the project away from the township.
“The more restrictive the township tries to be, the more likely that the land will be annexed into Maumee,” Pike said.
For now, the township doesn’t have an application for a data center, but if one comes forward, the public would be informed and welcomed to share input, said Lang, adding that every email or comment made in a public meeting is also being kept as a record that would be considered when the Board of Zoning Appeals receives an application.
“You won’t be invited to a groundbreaking without knowing there’s an application,” Lang said.
“That’s too late,” said Sindel, noting that action needs to be taken now before a big tech company comes in.
Sindel asked the trustees what level of research they’ve done on data centers, and if that included looking at the collateral damage to communities adjacent to such projects. While they’ve read up on data centers, Hoecherl said he’s also planning to join a tour of New Albany data centers later this month. Asked to state on the record whether they were for or against a data center, Lang said elected officials have to remain impartial and not take a stance on a project that may come before them for a vote.
“We can’t be activists,” she said.
“You should be – you’re our representatives,” Cline responded.
Several in the audience asked the trustees to give them advice on how to fight the data center and annexation by Maumee. Continue the online petition against data centers, and contact State Rep. Josh Williams about Maumee annexing properties because it’s a state legislation issue, Lang suggested.
“We’ve been trying all along to protect Monclova,” Lang said, noting that the zoning code and land use plan are designed to stave off annexation, but that townships don’t have much legal recourse.
Hagan pushed back on the idea that Monclova Township is powerless.
“We’re bigger than Maumee. We have more people than Maumee,” he said. “Have we ever thought about trying to become a city?”
While Lang said that the trustees could explore that idea, Vicary noted that it comes with some setbacks, including the ability of cities to administer an income tax – which townships cannot do.
Sindel recommended that the township seek out a law firm that’s experienced in these type of challenges – an idea that Hoecherl said he would explore.
Other audience members offered out-of-the-box ideas. Baumen asked whether residents could pool together enough money to buy the proposed property, valued at $32 million, in order to control the land. That would equal over $2,100 per person.
“We want a seat at the table. We’re trying to buy our freedom from annexation,” Bauman said.
Diane Stroshine suggested working with Maumee to find a project that’s mutually beneficial and draws visitors to the area, such as a sports complex with restaurants. That would bring in tax dollars to help a cash-strapped Maumee, she noted.
With several new members joining Maumee City Council after the election, Vicary expressed hope that they might be more willing to “be a better neighbor” and consider the impact of a project on the township residents.
Trustees urged residents to attend a Thursday, Nov. 20 public forum on data centers from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Anthony Wayne High School. It will also be live streamed on WGTE.
