Canton OH data center zoning chapter (2026)

City of Canton, Ohio (Stark County) — zoning regulation ordinance creating a NEW ZONING CODE CHAPTER FOCUSED SOLELY ON DATA CENTERS, passed 8-3 by City Council on Monday, July 27, 2026. PROCEDURAL RECORD: a public hearing of nearly 90 minutes at which more than 50 residents spoke with three minutes each, ALL OPPOSED, with dozens more turned away from City Hall. The council adopted the regulations notwithstanding uniform opposition — recorded because it distinguishes a REGULATE outcome from the MORATORIUM or BAN outcomes that dominate the 2026 municipal record, and because a future pass reading only the opposition coverage might assume the measure failed. OPERATIVE CONTENT: (1) EXPANDED DEFINITION of 'data center'; (2) construction and operation standards; (3) A FACILITY TIERING SCHEME spanning HYPERSCALE facilities (defined as 100,000 SQUARE FEET or 50 MEGAWATTS of power), smaller data centers, and HIGH-INTENSITY FACILITIES focused on ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR CRYPTOCURRENCY. The separate high-intensity AI/crypto tier is uncommon and closes the gap left by size-only thresholds, since a small-footprint high-density AI or mining facility can impose load and noise out of proportion to its square footage; (4) A DEFINED 'SENSITIVE RECEPTOR': any land use sensitive to noise, vibration or nuisances, INCLUDING ANY PROPERTY WITHIN 2,500 FEET OF THE DATA CENTER PROPERTY LINE. THE 2,500-FOOT RADIUS IS THE KEY QUANTIFIED TERM and is substantially larger than the dimensional standards recorded elsewhere in this dataset (compare Corunna MI data center zoning ordinance (2026): 500-foot residential setback, 250-foot buffer). RESIDENT CONCERNS ON THE RECORD: noise, light pollution, water usage, electricity. REGIONAL: neighbouring Alliance, Ohio was considering its own zoning restrictions on data centers; Massillon City Council agreed to a moratorium in the same period.