TIFFIN, Ohio — Tiffin City Council voted 6-0 Monday to freeze data center development within city limits for up to a year, giving the city breathing room to craft zoning rules — or decide whether to prohibit the facilities outright.
Resolution 2026-42, approved unanimously on its third reading and declared an emergency by a second 6-0 vote, bars the establishment or conversion of any structure into a data center for up to 12 months. The clock could stop early if the city finishes its zoning review before the year is up.
“I work on a production floor. I know what electricity costs mean to a business — and to the workers inside it. Before we invite something that size into Tiffin, residents deserve to know exactly what we’re getting into. That’s what this moratorium is about,” Councilman Aaron Jones said.
No data center project has been proposed in Tiffin, Mayor Lee Wilkinson told residents at the April 6 council meeting. City Administrator Nick Dutro has said the moratorium is meant to give officials space to decide how — or whether — to regulate such facilities through zoning.
Law Director Zach Fowler first walked council through the proposal in March.
Power consumption, water use, the loss of agricultural land, and pressure on electric infrastructure have all driven opposition to data centers in communities across Ohio. At least 15 Ohio municipalities have enacted moratoriums, according to the Statehouse News Bureau, with roughly 18 having enacted or considered them as of early March.
State lawmakers are pursuing a parallel track. The Ohio House unanimously passed House Bill 646 on March 18, legislation that would create a 13-member Ohio Data Center Study Commission to hold at least four public hearings and deliver recommendations to the governor and General Assembly within six months. The bill now awaits action in the Ohio Senate.
