City of Van Wert Ordinance 26-05-029 — amending Code of Ordinances §150.03 to define "Data Center" and modify "Public Service Facility", and §150.15(h)(1) to add data centers as a permitted use in the I-2 General Industrial district, passed as an emergency on first and final reading 2026-05-11

26-05-029

Council of the City of Van Wert, Ohio

city_council

Judiciary and Annexation

zoning_text_amendment

2026-05-11

approved

yes

first and final (statutory rules suspended)

AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND VAN WERT CODE OF ORDINANCES SECTION 150.03 TO ADD THE TERM "DATA CENTER" AS A DEFINED TERM AND TO MODIFY THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM "PUBLIC SERVICE FACILITY", TO AMEND VAN WERT CODE OF ORDINANCES SECTION 150.15(h)(1) BY ADDING DATA CENTERS AS A PERMITTED USE IN THE I-2 GENERAL INDUSTRIAL ZONING CLASSIFICATION, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

Writes "Data Center" into the Van Wert Code of Ordinances for the first time, adds it to the I-2 General Industrial permitted-use list, and rewrites the "Public Service Facility" definition.

"Data Center. A facility comprised of a building or group of buildings designed to incorporate a large number of computer servers used for the storage of, processing, and distribution of large amounts of data, and the accessory equipment and structures necessary to support the critical functions of the facility such as (but not limited to) generators, cooling towers, fuel storage, and electrical equipment."

[verified] The City's own definition names GENERATORS, COOLING TOWERS and FUEL STORAGE as accessory equipment a data center is expected to carry — written into the code in the same sitting that approved a campus the record elsewhere describes as closed-loop and non-evaporative. The definition is generic and permits an evaporative build; it is not a constraint on this campus and does not contradict the closed-loop disclosures. Recorded because the code text, not the press release, is what binds the next applicant.

[verified] The amended §150.03 definition adds a footnote to "power plants or substations": "*These facilities can only be operated in the I-2 zoning district." Generation and substation siting citywide was narrowed to I-2 in the same ordinance that made data centers an I-2 use.