MOUNT ORAB, Ohio — Nearly 900 residents in Mount Orab have signed a petition calling for a pause to plans to redevelop a massive "mega site" in the village.
"Despite the scale and pace of activity, residents have been given little clear information about what is planned, how decisions were made, or how the public is expected to participate," the petition reads. "Many residents feel entirely left out of decisions that will permanently reshape the community. That sense of exclusion cannot be overlooked."
The 1,018-acre site sits near the heart of the village and is bordered by Oakland Road, New Hope-White Oak Station Road and Tri-County Highway. The village has the property listed on its website under the "development" tab. The property listing reads, "no longer available."
WATCH: Mount Orab appears to have plans for 1,000 acres of land. Residents say they want to know more.
"There's a lot of things that people are connecting patterns on that make them think it's a data center," Michael LaTour, who lives a mile away from the site, said. "It's not a problem with the fact that technology exists. It's about location, public process and transparency, and we don't have any of that happening."
LaTour said he first became aware that something was going on months ago, when he noticed buildings near the site were being demolished.
"When the land movement started to happen, when the building started being removed, that's when we noticed and started paying attention," he told us.
A Facebook group called "Mt. Orab Residents for Responsible Development" was created Jan. 10 and already has more than 1,700 members. Days before its creation, during a Jan. 6 village council meeting, elected officials confirmed they had signed nondisclosure agreements regarding the site, residents said.
"When you start asking people questions, you find out quickly that they're all under non-disclosure agreements and they can't discuss anything with you," Paul Riley, a Brown County resident, said. "When it comes to a multi-billion dollar project like this, we really do feel like we need to be in the know about it."
We reached out to village officials multiple times on Tuesday to ask about the potential development and nondisclosure agreements. As of Tuesday evening, we have not heard back.
"What's most concerning is that if this is a data center, they're putting it right where there are existing houses and communities," Blair Jones, a Mount Orab resident, said. "These people are going to be directly affected by any negative impact it will have. We want to know what those impacts are going to be."
Some residents told us they plan to speak out on Tuesday during a village council meeting at 7 p.m.
We will have crews covering the meeting and will post updates to this developing story when they become available.
