Record · Local legislation
American Township (Allen County, OH) Zoning Resolution — the land-use basis for the BOSC/Google data-center site
american-township-zoning
provenance
- sources
- data/documents/lacrpc/February 2026 American Township Zoning Resolution_202603191409369887.pdf
- source_pages_0based
- cover_amendment_block 0
- definitions_data_center 20
- definitions_hyperscale 24
- m1_conditional_uses 61
- article_11_m2
- 63
- 64
- 65
- official_schedule_tables
- 77
- 78
- content_verified 2026-06-07
- evidence LACRPC CivicPlus DocumentCenter (id 184), pulled 2026-06-06 — see data/documents/lacrpc/MANIFEST.yaml
zoning_code
- title THE AMERICAN TOWNSHIP ZONING RESOLUTION — ALLEN COUNTY, OHIO
- prepared_by American Township Zoning Commission; adopted by American Township Board of Trustees
- administration American Township Administration Building, 102 Pioneer Rd., Lima, Ohio 45807
- enabling_law Ohio Revised Code Chapter 519 (township zoning)
- pages 241
- amended_and_adopted_by_trustees
- 2021-02-11
- 2024-01-08
- 2024-08-28
- 2025-09-08
- 2026-02-09
- note The PDF contains NO record-of-amendments / change-log page, so which specific amendment introduced the data-center language cannot be content-verified from THIS document. The definitions and the M-2 conditional-use entry are present in the current (2026-02-09) consolidated text. [verified that the language is present; NOT verified which amendment added it from the PDF alone.] Cross-referencing the township's OWN minutes resolves the carrier to the 2025-09-08 text amendment — see ``data_center_amendment`` below. This artifact must NOT stamp every re-adoption date as the data-center change: only 2025-09-08 (Res #09-082025) is the resolved carrier.
- data_center_amendment
- date 2025-09-08
- resolution #09-082025
- tag inference
- basis Of the five cover-block re-adoptions, only the 2025-09-08 / 2026-02-09 cycle falls inside the BOSC deal window, and American Township's own minutes content-verify a zoning TEXT amendment on 2025-09-08 — "Motion ... to approve Resolution #09-082025 relating to zoning text amendments" (9-8-25 minutes). It is the ONLY zoning text amendment in the corpus and the deal-window vehicle for the Data Center / Hyperscale definitions + M-2 conditional use (11.2.4), which are present in the current (2026-02-09) consolidated text. The 2021-02-11 / 2024-01-08 / 2024-08-28 re-adoptions predate the project and did not carry it; 2026-02-09 is the consolidated re-adoption, not the change. The resolution PDF has no change-log, so this data-center-specific attribution is [inference] corroborated by the township minutes — not [verified].
- corroborating_source american-township/meetings/meeting-summaries.yaml
definitions
- data_center "Data Center: A physical location that stores computing machines and their related hardware equipment. Contains the computing infrastructure that IT systems require, such as servers, data storage drives, and network equipment. It is the physical facility that stores any company's digital data."
- hyperscale_data_center "Hyperscale Data Center: A massive data center that provides extreme scalability capabilities and engineered for large scale workloads within an optimized network infrastructure, streamlined network connectivity and minimized latency."
district_m2_general_manufacturing
- purpose "The purpose of the M-2 General Manufacturing District is to encourage the development of manufacturing facilities of a moderate and heavy nature." (11.0)
- permitted_uses_11_1
- Any permitted use established within the M-1 District (excludes B-1 & B-2 uses)
- Grain elevators, concrete plants and the manufacture, storage and sale of related products
- Metal fabrication and casting plants
- Utility Grid Solar Energy Systems (less than 50 megawatts)
- Manufacturing/assembly/distribution of new automobiles, trucks, boats, household goods, farm + construction equipment, plastic & metal products
- Carpentry, woodworking and machine shops; large-scale home/house furnishings production over 50,000 SF
- Accessory buildings/uses incidental to a principal permitted use (principal building required first)
- conditional_uses_11_2
- requires Approval of the Township Board of Zoning Appeals after a public hearing
- the_data_center_entry_11_2_4 "Any industrial, manufacturing, storage uses (to include but not limited to electronic data storage facilities, hyper-data centers, data mining facilities, lithium battery manufacturing facilities or plants, or computer chip manufacturing & distribution establishment(s) and those not specifically mentioned above but deemed as acceptable use of the land by the Board of Zoning Appeals)." (11.2.4)
- other_conditional
- meat/poultry/game processing (11.2.1)
- chemical plants not emitting corrosive/toxic fumes beyond premises (11.2.2)
- barrow pits (11.2.3)
- one medical/adult-use cannabis retail dispensary (11.2.5)
- prohibited_uses_11_3
- catchall Uses not specifically authorized by the express terms of this Article shall be prohibited
- enumerated
- junk yards / dumping / salvage / landfill / waste-disposal sites
- habitated RVs/campers
- outdoor junk/inoperable-vehicle accumulation
- trash/debris accumulation (nuisance per se)
- uses dangerous/injurious/noxious to surrounding areas
- amusement arcades / adult-entertainment
- ORC Ch. 3796 marijuana cultivators/processors
dimensional_standards_official_schedule_15_1
- with_central_water_public_sewer
- min_lot_size_sqft 20000
- frontage_width_ft 100
- max_structure_height_ft 50
- rear_setback_ft 30
- with_private_well_septic
- min_lot_size_sqft 108900
- max_structure_height_ft 50
- road_setback_11_8 No portion of a building closer than fifty-five (55) feet to the section line / center of nearest road pavement, EXCEPT State and County Roads which require ninety (90) feet. Plus an ODOT new-/changed-highway provision: within 300 ft of a proposed highway centerline (or 500 ft of an intersection), the Zoning Inspector must notify the ODOT Director and withhold the permit for up to 120 days. (11.8; cross Section 21.4)
- screening_11_9 For non-residential uses abutting an R-District: a 6-ft solid wall/fence, OR a 15-ft-wide strip planted with an evergreen hedge/shrubs ≥4 ft at planting. (11.9)
m1_contrast
- m1_conditional_10_2_2 In the M-1 (Light Manufacturing) district, data centers are a conditional use but EXPLICITLY capped: "Electronic Data Storage Centers, Data Mining Facilities, Electronic Media Storage Device Centers (Data center not to exceed 10,000 square feet); excluding 'hyperscale data centers'." (10.2.2) -- i.e. a hyperscale data center is impermissible in M-1 and only reachable in M-2.
comprehensive_plan_note
- doc data/documents/lacrpc/American Township Comprehensive Plan (PDF).pdf
- content_verified_date 2009-01
- status The American Township Comprehensive Plan predates the project by ~16 years (Jan 2009) and its future-land-use designations are presented on MAP IMAGES, not an extractable text layer; the site-specific designation for the Bluelick Rd / I-75 vicinity could not be content-verified from the text. Whether the M-2 data-center use is consistent with the 2009 future-land-use plan is an OPEN question requiring map review. [not extracted; honest null.]
open_questions
- Is the BOSC site already mapped M-2, or was it rezoned to M-2 (and when / by what township resolution)? Not answerable from the resolution text — needs the Official Zoning Map + rezoning record.
- Has a BZA conditional-use certificate under 11.2.4 issued for the site? Hearing-notice + decision records?
- [RESOLVED — see data_center_amendment] Which amendment added the Data Center / Hyperscale definitions and 11.2.4 resolves to Res #09-082025 (2025-09-08) [inference], via the American Township minutes; still open from the PDF alone (no change-log), so obtaining the text of Res #09-082025 would upgrade this to [verified].
- 2009 comp-plan future-land-use designation for the site (map review).
Where it connects
lacrpc/american-township-zoning.zoning.yaml · — · lacrpc