Supreme Court: Village can reject data center construction application after moratorium imposed

The village of Lordstown does not have to consider a proposed data center’s request for a site-plan review that was submitted days before the village imposed a moratorium on data centers, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled today.

In a unanimous per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that Lordstown officials were within their rights to stop processing the site-plan review requested by Bristolville 25 Developer, which was the first step toward obtaining a permit to construct four three-story data centers and ancillary structures in an area of the Trumbull County village zoned for industrial use.

Bristolville initiated the first step in October 2025 under Lordstown’s codified ordinances to construct the data centers and was notified the next day by the village planning and zoning administrator that a ban on data centers was pending before the village council. Two weeks later, the village council adopted the ban, which it later converted to a moratorium on data centers.

Bristolville sought a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court to compel the village to follow its site plan review process and act upon it under the village’s pre-moratorium ordinances. The company argued the village must follow the zoning law in effect on the day the company submitted its plan, which at that time did not prohibit data centers.

The Court stated that Bristolville’s arguments may have prompted a duty for the village to act on the request had the company completed all the steps required to apply for a zoning permit. Because the company had not completed the required preliminary steps to apply for a permit, the village was under no obligation to consider its proposal.