• Campuses to include 11 buildings on roughly 215 acres
• Developer to appeal zoning certificate disapproval Dec. 17
• Parcels directly border AWS data center properties along Industrial Parkway and Warner Road

A developer has proposed two multi-building data center campuses directly adjacent to an under-development Amazon Web Services (AWS) campus in Jerome Township, Ohio.

Plans for the projects, proposed by Cincinnati-based applicant Civil Solutions, include the construction of:

• six data center buildings ranging from 180,000 to 270,000 square feet, equipment yards, utilities, drainage and associated site work along Industrial Parkway
• five data center buildings ranging from 157,500 to 229,500 square feet, equipment yards, utilities, drainage and associated site work along Warner Road

Jerome Township Zoning Inspector and Planning Coordinator Eric Snowden told NPM an end user wasn’t specified in either project filing.

Both properties, totaling roughly 215 acres and directly north and east of the AWS data center campus at 8657 Warner Road, are owned by 8510 Warner Road LLC (the address of one of the properties), which is registered to an address in Virginia.

The AWS also has a campus under development at 8619 Industrial Parkway. Each AWS campus is reported to have four buildings, with at least one under construction, according to Columbus Business First.

According to township filings, both zoning certificate applications for the proposed data center campuses were disapproved Sept. 3 by the township for failing to comply with Chapter 670 of the Zoning Resolution, which allows the township to require plans or assurances to mitigate “objectionable, noxious, or dangerous uses, practices, or conditions,” including noise, vibration or direct or reflected glare associated with industrial or data center uses.

Civil Solutions filed appeals for both projects, maintaining that they met all application requirements and that the township misapplied the chapter by referencing a sound study, stating: “Nowhere in the Zoning Resolution is a sound study a requirement for a zoning certificate application. … Nor is a sound study an appropriate basis for denial of a zoning certificate in the event a sound study is requested.”

Staff correspondence also noted that photometric plans had not been submitted.

Civil Solutions is scheduled to appear before the Jerome Township Board of Zoning Appeals Dec. 17 (continued from a November meeting).

Civil Solutions did not respond to requests for comment.

The applications were submitted in April, prior to the township enacting a nine-month moratorium on new data center development in September – the moratorium does not apply retroactively to existing filings.

Township officials said the pause was to explore community concerns related to noise, infrastructure demands and tax abatements.

Both AWS campuses have tax incentive agreements.

In greater Central Ohio, AWS has a growing number of data center campuses, with operations in New Albany, Hilliard, Dublin, Marysville and more.