FAIRFIELD COUNTY – Fairfield County Council voted unanimously Monday night to pass the second reading of an ordinance prohibiting data centers in Fairfield County. Council then voted 6-1 on a resolution to prevent data-center development on county-owned property.
Council gave second reading to Ordinance 856, which calls for a 12-month temporary moratorium on data center development on any and all property in Fairfield County, giving county officials time to research the industry and consider regulations governing any future data center projects.
The ordinance passed 7-0 with little discussion.
Council then considered Resolution 2026-08, which calls for a ban on construction of data centers on county-owned properties and prohibits the sale of county property for data center development.
That measure generated considerably more discussion, with several council members questioning whether the resolution was necessary since the countywide moratorium already applies to all county-owned property.
Councilman Don Goldbach said he saw no need for the additional measure.
“The whole purpose for [the moratorium] is to research and understand the issues with data centers, no matter whether it’s county-owned property, individual-owned property, or any other data center issue,” Goldbach said.
He said nothing involving data centers could move forward in Fairfield County during the moratorium and called the resolution “unnecessary.”
Councilman Carl Bell supported the additional measure, saying he viewed it as another safeguard.
“I believe in safeguards, and the more that we have in place, and the more information surrounding a particular issue gives us those safeguards,” Bell said.
Bell, who represents District 4, said he is particularly concerned about the potential impact of data centers on the western portion of Fairfield County, including the Jenkinsville area.
“We don’t know what is coming,” Bell said, adding that county officials need to carefully research the issue before making decisions that could affect residents.
Councilwoman Peggy Swearingen, whose District 3 also includes portions of western Fairfield County, agreed.
“You don’t know where they’re going to want to put it,” Swearingen said. “You don’t know what you don’t know, and we don’t know a whole lot about it.”
She said that is why the county needs the full 12-month moratorium to research data centers and their potential impacts.
During the discussion, Councilman Doug Pauley asked County Attorney Tommy Morgan whether the countywide moratorium covered county-owned property.
“Yes, sir,” Morgan confirmed.
Pauley then questioned whether the resolution provided any additional protection beyond the moratorium.
County Administrator Vic Carpenter acknowledged that it did not.
“There have been concerns that the county’s new industrial park is being developed for data centers and that county surplus properties could be marketed to data center developers,” Carpenter said. “The resolution is intended to assure residents that the county’s intentions are not to, using its resources, attract data centers.”
Council ultimately approved the resolution, 6-1.
Earlier in the meeting, Fairfield County resident Mary Lightner spoke during public comment and urged council to reject data centers altogether.
“I am opposed to data centers,” Lightner said. She acknowledged the World Wide Web and the growing role of artificial intelligence, but she said too little is known about the long-term effects of AI and the data centers that support it.
“No one knows how AI is going to affect everything – health, the environment, the economy,” she said. “This is a huge issue. It’s a national issue. It’s a global issue,” she said. “I think we’re going to need to proceed very cautiously.”
She also questioned whether Fairfield County should consider providing infrastructure for data centers when basic infrastructure needs already exist for county residents.
“We don’t have the infrastructure for a lot of things that we need for our citizens,” Lightner said. “I would hate to see us say to ourselves, ‘Well, we’re going to build infrastructure so that we can get a data center.’”
Council will have a third and final reading to vote for or against the moratorium.
A special called county council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 in county council chambers at the county government building. The purpose of the meeting is for citizens to come before council to express their concerns or support for data centers.
Carpenter announced that during the one-year moratorium, the county plans to hold a series of town halls for citizens to express their viewpoints about data centers in Fairfield County.
“We also plan to have several workshops for our citizens and council to attend where we have individuals not affiliated with any particular viewpoint on data centers, but rather can address the environmental impacts, outcomes of data centers, how they are built, so that we have good data in front of us,” Carpenter said.