Part 1 of 3
This is the first of a three-part editorial series on Grove City's Issue 28. Today: what it does. Tomorrow: who pays. Thursday: the statewide picture.
This board tries to call balls and strikes. We base our views on math more than emotion or trends. Right now, stopping data centers is trendy, and Issue 28 says it will do just that.
Maybe it will. It will also throw out future development and the tax revenue that comes with it.
Here's the strongest fact against it, and it comes from the campaign's own website: the Rensch Road data center project "was turned away." Residents packed council chambers, and council passed a one-year moratorium. The threat was handled, for now. Issue 28 is like getting engaged and insisting on a second engagement ring. The first one already did the job.
Yes, a moratorium runs out after a year. But council can extend it, or it can write zoning rules aimed squarely at data centers, without rewriting the city charter.
So what does the second ring do? Any project of 50 acres or more, or one that uses more than 20 megawatts of power or more than 500,000 gallons of water a day, needs a citywide vote. The amendment's own findings name data centers, power plants and warehouses.
Supporters first said existing businesses wouldn't be touched. Their own FAQ now admits that answer "was too simple." It was. Businesses already over those lines must register, report quarterly, and pay for noise and light testing.
According to the proposed amendment, the list goes on. Grow more than 10 percent? Vote. Sell to a new owner? Vote. Break the rules and fines climb to $500,000 a day. It even assigns duties to a city auditor Grove City doesn't have, and only voters can fix that.
Then there's the question of who's over those thresholds. The campaign's FAQ once told voters Mount Carmel Grove City sat at roughly 37 acres and wouldn't be touched. A screening of Franklin County Auditor parcel records puts the hospital's connected campus at about 75 acres, with the hospital parcel alone near 62.
Considering what's at stake, that's kind of important.
Mount Carmel isn't alone. That screening found 27 owners or campuses inside city limits with 50 or more connected acres. Many are parks, farms, or vacant land, but the list also includes Walmart's distribution center (about 175), FedEx Ground (about 98), First Baptist Church (about 95), Buckeye Ranch (about 83), and Grove City Church of the Nazarene (about 54). The amendment has no exemption for hospitals, churches, or nonprofits. Whether each one counts is up to the city's law director, subject to appeal.
Which raises a question: who pays? Tomorrow, we do the math.
Comments and letters to the editor are welcome: [email protected]
Note: Acreage figures come from a GIS screening of Franklin County Auditor parcel records. They measure connected owned acres, not a legal determination. Three of the 27 are city-owned groupings that reach 50 acres only when nearby public parcels are combined.