WILMINGTON, Ohio — What residents describe as a rather quiet community in Wilmington, Ohio, is now at the center of a legal showdown over a proposed Amazon Web Services data center.
Jessica Sharp, an organizer with Wilmington Residents for Responsible Development, is suing the city of Wilmington. She claims officials failed to give proper notice to residents about the development plans for the massive data center proposed just beyond her backyard.
“It’s really a public accountability case,” Sharp said. “So you know, we’re trying to set an example that cities can’t do whatever they want just because, you know, they think they have unrestricted authority. They’re still bound to the letter of the law, and we intend to enforce that.”
The lawsuit specifically targets a zoning text amendment that made data centers a permitted use in light industrial zones, as well as the map amendment for the parcel where the data center would be built. While Amazon Web Services owns the…
