WILMINGTON, Ohio — Wilmington City Council chambers overflowed Thursday night as dozens of residents voiced concerns about a proposed Amazon data center project in the community about 50 miles northeast of Cincinnati.
The council voted to advance the proposal beyond the first of the required three readings.
The Amazon Web Services (AWS) project would occupy approximately 471 acres off U.S. 68 in Wilmington.
Alex Beres, executive director of the Port Authority, and Josh Roth, economic development director, outlined the key elements of the proposal and took questions from councilmembers.
According to officials, the project involves a $4 billion investment from AWS, creating about 100 permanent jobs with an annual payroll of $8 million. AWS would also fund $25 million in public infrastructure, including sewer work, a 1-million-gallon water tower, roughly 2.5 miles of new water main and road improvements to U.S. 68 and State Route 730.
Watch: Residents piled into city council chambers, ready to voice their concerns:
Data centers are facilities that house computer systems supporting services like artificial intelligence that require significant computing power. According to DataCenterMap.com, Ohio currently has roughly 215 data centers.
Residents filled the meeting to express worries about the facility's proximity to homes and schools, as well as potential noise impacts.
"You really just don't want to put a 900-pound gorilla in a baby bassinet. That's really what we're talking about here," one Wilmington resident told the council.
Brenda Bowman, a local mother who has a daughter with autism, said she's particularly concerned about how the facility might affect her daughter, who has sensory processing issues.
"She's level two processing with a sensory processing issue," Bowman said. "That humming, fluorescent lights, that bothers her. She can hear that."
Bowman urged council members to consider the personal impact on families.
"I just really want them to really stop and think about everything we had to say, and if it was their family that was going through something like that. If they were affected by it personally," she said.
Another resident, Laura, emphasized the council's responsibility to represent constituents.
"You guys are the only people who represent us, the citizens of Wilmington. So, it's your job to show us that you're doing your homework and that you're doing everything you can to represent us," Laura told the seven-member council.
If approved, Amazon will make payments in lieu of property taxes (or PILOT) to the city of Wilmington, Wilmington City Schools, Laurel Oaks Career Campus and the Clinton County Port Authority for 30 years. Under this particular PILOT agreement, Amazon would pay out 30% of what they would have paid in property taxes every year.
The ordinance must complete two more readings before final passage.
