Canton Approves Data Center Zoning as Dubai Based Company Advances $1 Billion Project

Canton Approves New Data Center Zoning

Canton has approved new development rules for data centers as a Dubai based company advances plans for a project exceeding $1 billion near Trump Avenue SE and Orchard View Drive SE. The legislation creates additional 200 foot setbacks, sound studies, landscaping requirements and limits on testing loud equipment, but it does not prohibit data centers, halt the proposed Trump Avenue project or require council to hold a separate public vote before that particular development can proceed.

Council adopted Ordinance 115 of 2026 on July 27 by an 8 to 3 vote. Council members Frank Morris, Chris Smith and Richard Sacco voted against the measure. Eleven council members were present, with John Mariol II absent. The city’s official minutes show that 26 people spoke during the public hearing. WHBC estimated that approximately 50 residents attended and reported that everyone who spoke opposed data center development. More than 50 residents filled Canton City Council chambers for the July 27 public hearing, while dozens of additional attendees were denied entry after officials said the room had reached its fire-code occupancy limit. One attendee who counted the people remaining outside said 56 were turned away, although the city has not publicly confirmed that exact number. The Canton Repository reported that no maximum-occupancy sign was visible inside the council chamber.

The ordinance is not a rezoning of the Trump Avenue property. It is a citywide amendment to Canton’s Planning and Zoning Code. It expands the city’s definition of a data center and creates Section 1148.16, a new section containing development requirements specifically for data center buildings and equipment. Canton first added data centers to its zoning definitions in October 2024, describing them as facilities that store, manage, process and transmit digital information and that may include generators, cooling equipment, substations and other supporting infrastructure.

The new rules require principal data center buildings, cooling equipment, electrical substations, generators and battery storage systems to remain at least 200 feet from the nearest property line of a sensitive receptor or from an applicable public right of way. Sensitive receptors include nearby residential properties, schools, churches, hospitals and nature preserves that may be especially affected by noise, vibration or other industrial disturbances. Properties within 2,500 feet of a data center site may be evaluated as sensitive receptors under the ordinance.

The distinction is important. The 200 foot requirement does not prevent a data center from being constructed within 2,500 feet of a home, church or school. It requires the main buildings and major mechanical and electrical equipment to be positioned at least 200 feet from the protected property line. A large enough industrial property could therefore contain a data center near residential land while still satisfying the setback.

The ordinance also requires utilities to be installed underground where covered by the new rules and requires landscaping buffers intended to reduce noise and limit views of large buildings and equipment. Developers must conduct sound studies during the approval process and after a facility begins operating. The ordinance also establishes designated hours for testing loud equipment such as backup generators.

The legislation does not establish a clearly reported numerical decibel limit specifically for data centers. Canton’s existing noise law prohibits unreasonably loud, disturbing or unnecessary noise, but it does not contain a simple data center specific sound ceiling that residents could independently measure and cite. That leaves the city with sound studies, its general nuisance law and its zoning enforcement process rather than a single fixed decibel number.

The exact hours during which generators may be tested were not clearly stated in the city’s published meeting minutes or the final reporting reviewed for this article. Those hours should not be reported as an exact figure until the signed ordinance itself is obtained from the council office. Canton’s online codified ordinances were still current only through May 18 and had not yet incorporated Ordinance 115 of 2026 when reviewed.

When Canton annexed the 85 acre Orchard View property in 2025, Mayor William Sherer later said the city did not know about any potential development at the site. That makes the property’s later emergence as the proposed location of a data center investment exceeding $1 billion one of the most important unanswered questions in the story.

The issue is not that Canton secretly allowed construction to begin without public knowledge. Construction has not begun, and the billion dollar figure remains a projected investment if the project moves forward. The more direct question is how land annexed into the city without a known development plan later became tied to one of the largest proposed private investments in the area.

The company behind the Trump Avenue proposal

The proposed project would occupy approximately 85 acres northeast of Trump Avenue SE and Orchard View Drive SE. The property was annexed into Canton in 2025 after previously being located in Canton Township. The legal owner shown in Stark County property records is DAMAC Digital Solution Ohio LLC. That company purchased eight parcels from AIDC Canton 2 LLC for $36.5 million on December 31, 2025.

The legal title is therefore held by an American limited liability company, but the development is backed by DAMAC Digital and the Dubai based DAMAC Group. DAMAC Digital describes itself as the digital infrastructure division supported by DAMAC Group. DAMAC Group was founded by Emirati businessman Hussain Sajwani, who remains its founder and chairman.

DAMAC and the Trump Organization have a longstanding business relationship involving Trump branded golf developments in Dubai. DAMAC and the Trump Organization partnered on Trump International Golf Club Dubai, which opened in 2017, and have also been associated with another Trump branded golf development in Dubai. An analysis by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington estimated that DAMAC paid Trump interests between $13 million and $19 million in licensing and management fees connected with the Dubai developments. The exact amount comes from that organization’s analysis of financial disclosures rather than from a locally filed Canton document.

In January 2025, Sajwani appeared with Trump at Mar a Lago to announce an initial $20 billion investment in United States data centers. DAMAC’s announcement identified Ohio as one of eight states targeted for development and said the company planned to create approximately 2,000 megawatts of capacity over four years. The company was then using the name EDGNEX Data Centers by DAMAC, which has since been rebranded as DAMAC Digital.

The Canton land purchase occurred approximately 11 months after that national announcement. County records show AIDC Canton 2 purchased the group of properties for approximately $8.55 million on December 29, 2025, and transferred them to DAMAC Digital Solution Ohio two days later for $36.5 million. The county classified the later transaction as a qualified but questionable sale, a property record classification that does not by itself establish wrongdoing or explain the difference in price.

What DAMAC says it plans to build

Plans presented by DAMAC show two data center buildings, electrical substations and a storm water detention pond. The company has said the total investment would exceed $1 billion if the development proceeds. It aims to begin construction in 2026 and place the first building into full operation by early 2028. DAMAC estimates that approximately 800 workers would be on the site during peak construction. Once completed, the facility is expected to provide approximately 60 permanent full time jobs. The center would serve large cloud computing, artificial intelligence and business computing customers. DAMAC has said it intends to retain ownership and has spoken with potential customers, but no final customer or operator has been publicly identified.

The company says the facility would use a closed loop cooling system rather than continuously consuming large amounts of fresh water for cooling. Plans presented at the July community meeting described an initial mixture containing 70 percent water and 30 percent propylene glycol. That liquid would circulate repeatedly through the cooling system. DAMAC estimated that each building would require less than 1 million gallons of water during the initial filling process.

Those figures are projections supplied by the developer. They do not yet represent independently measured operating results because the facility has not been built. The final water demand could also include uses outside the closed cooling loop, including restrooms, maintenance, fire protection and other building needs. Canton officials have previously estimated that extending city water infrastructure to the site could cost approximately $3.7 million. The water superintendent said the source of funding would have to be negotiated between the city and the developer. No final agreement establishing who will pay that cost was identified in the public records reviewed for this article.

Will the new rules apply to DAMAC

The most important unresolved issue is whether the entire Trump Avenue project must comply with Ordinance 115 of 2026. Councilman Bill Smuckler said a data center was already being developed within the city and that officials did not yet know whether it would be required to follow the newly adopted regulations. After the vote, Smuckler asked the Canton Law Department to answer questions about the project. The official minutes state that Law Director Jason P. Reese requested that questions be submitted in writing and said responses would be provided as they were received.

Whether the new standards apply could depend on the project’s status when the ordinance becomes effective. Relevant issues may include whether DAMAC had submitted complete plans, obtained zoning approval, received building permits or established legally protected development rights under the earlier zoning code. Ownership of the land and preliminary discussions with the city do not necessarily provide exemption from later regulations, but a project with completed approvals may be treated differently from a new application.

Mayor William Sherer has said discussions about a data center at the property began in 2025. He also said Canton did not know about the proposed development when the city annexed the 85 acre property. City officials and DAMAC held a community forum on July 14, but the company’s presentation occurred months after it acquired the land and after public concerns about Stark County data center development had intensified.

What the decision means

Canton’s vote gives the city more authority to control where data center buildings, generators, cooling systems, substations and battery equipment are placed. It also requires sound studies and physical screening that were not specifically designed for data centers under the earlier code.

The ordinance does not stop the DAMAC development. It does not impose a moratorium, return the property to Canton Township, cancel the annexation or change the property’s ownership. It also does not require DAMAC to disclose the eventual customer using the servers before every stage of local approval. For nearby residents, the practical value of the ordinance will depend on three things. The first is whether the Law Department determines that the rules apply to the Trump Avenue project. The second is whether the final site plan places the buildings and equipment far enough from surrounding properties to provide meaningful protection. The third is how aggressively Canton enforces sound, landscaping and equipment testing requirements after the facility opens.