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Oregon council rezones property for proposed data center

Posted By: Toledo Blade on August 26, 2025.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

Oregon City Council on Monday unanimously approved rezoning properties on Corduroy and Wynn roads to make way for the proposed data center, a multibillion dollar investment.

The property, which consists of seven parcels totaling 20 acres, was rezoned to advanced manufacturing from agricultural.

“These zoning changes will give the best and highest revenue with the least impact on the surrounding properties,” said Steve Shrake, building and zoning commissioner.

Councilman Steve Hornyak, chairman of the Oregon Economic Development Committee, expressed his support.

“This will be an opportunity for Oregon to take part in something that will set up generational benefits for the city of Oregon,” Mr. Hornyak said.

The properties that were rezoned are currently owned by the Oregon Economic Development Foundation, basically the land bank used by the city for business transactions.

“They were optioned and purchased with the sole purpose of rezoning them to advanced manufacturing,” Mr. Hornyak said.

Mayor Mike Seferian noted the benefits to the city if the data center goes in.

The city collects approximately $20 million in revenue annually from its 2.25 percent payroll income tax. If the data center goes in, the city will get another $20 million for its general budget, Mayor Seferian said.

“If everything goes well with this project, it would generate the same amount as the 2.25 percent payroll income tax. That is why it is such a big deal to us,” Mayor Seferian said.

“Everyone in the entire city would gain with the improvement or expansion of city services due to this enormous revenue stream addition to the city,” Mayor Seferian said.

“We’re very close to making this happen,” he added. “It will really put our city on the map and be recognized.”

The meeting was packed with residents who expressed both support and opposition to the data center.

Jim Davis of Bay Shore Road was opposed.

“Communities all around the country when faced with the same opportunities reject these sites due to water pressure and quality concerns, double digit increases in electric bills and ugly fenced sites that look more like prisons than office buildings,” Mr. Davis said. “Why should we accept this deal and suffer high natural gas and power rates and reduced property values in service of a multibillion dollar corporation?”

Aimee Mottmiller of Corduroy Road urged council to delay its vote and give further thought to residents’ concerns.

“It’s essential for our voices to be heard,” she said. “Sometimes progress requires us to reconsider. Rezoning this land for a single data center is not the end. A second data center is on the horizon. That is how sprawl begins … until farmland, wetlands, and neighborhoods give way to industrial complexes, piece by piece.”

Nate Racz of Athens Road was in favor of the project.

“I believe in a future that supports working families and strengthens our community,” said Mr. Racz, a journeyman electrician. “Mayor Seferian’s vision of smart, sustainable development, means high quality, good paying jobs, for local workers, and long term benefits for our city.”

Last November, the city approved a purchase agreement to sell 170 acres of property in its industrial park for $17.3 million for the data center.

The site is in the northwest corner of the industrial park at Corduroy and Wynn roads.

The location is attractive to a data center, which houses IT equipment, such as servers, because of its access to power and large transmission lines, said City Administrator Joel Mazur.

“It’s the biggest component to making our site one of the best sites around our area and region for a data center,” he said.

The city is waiting on the results of a detailed load study by FirstEnergy to determine if the electric company has the capacity to adequately supply the data center, Mayor Seferian said after the meeting.

“The data center can supply its own energy, but they wanted to go online with the grid to be able to run it,” Mr. Seferian said. “There’s several different ways they can operate. They have to have options of ways to power it so that under any circumstance, they can run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.”

The results of the load study is the next step to closing on the sale of the property.

“It’s one of their due diligence items they have to complete,” Mr. Mazur said, “before they can close on the property.”