Massillon Passes Data Center Zoning Regulations

Massillon Council Passes Data Center Zoning Rules After Adding Power Threshold

Massillon City Council voted Monday night to approve Ordinance 60-2026 as amended, establishing permanent zoning regulations for future data center development within the city.

The ordinance received its final reading during the August 3 council meeting. It amends several sections of Massillon’s planning and zoning code, including the city’s definitions, industrial zoning rules and site plan review requirements.

Council made additional changes to the legislation before approving it Monday night. The amendments added electrical capacity to the definitions used to distinguish between large-scale and non-large-scale data centers.

The large-scale data center definition was amended to include a facility containing at least 100,000 square feet of structures on a single parcel and/or being capable of exceeding 25 megawatts per hour, according to the language read aloud during the meeting. The definition of a non-large-scale data center was also amended using the 100,000-square-foot and 25-megawatt thresholds.

Adding an electrical threshold means the city will no longer classify a data center based only on the physical size of its buildings. A facility occupying less than 100,000 square feet could potentially be considered large-scale if its electrical capacity exceeds the ordinance’s power threshold.

The city had not published the final amended ordinance immediately following Monday night’s meeting. The completed written language will be needed to determine exactly how the two classifications will be applied in those situations. The term read during the meeting was described as 25 megawatts per hour. A megawatt generally measures electrical demand or power capacity, while a megawatt-hour measures the amount of energy used over a period of time. The final written ordinance will show the precise technical measurement adopted by council.

Ordinance 60-2026 does not approve construction of a specific data center. It establishes where future facilities may be located and the conditions developers must meet before receiving city approval.

Under amendments previously approved by council, data centers will be restricted to property zoned I-2 General Industrial. Council removed references to the I-1 Light Industrial District, effectively preventing data centers from locating in the city’s light-industrial areas.

Both large-scale and non-large-scale data centers must also be set back at least 400 feet from a residentially zoned district when the I-2 property borders residential zoning. Council approved that requirement by an 8 to 1 vote during its July 6 meeting.

The regulations followed months of discussion concerning data center development and Massillon’s existing Bitdeer cryptocurrency mining operation near Ninth Street Southwest.

Council members previously said the existing operation exposed a gap in Massillon’s zoning code because the city did not have regulations specifically addressing data centers.

The passage of Ordinance 60-2026 creates permanent rules governing their location, setbacks, utility certifications, noise estimates and post-construction oversight.

It does not grant approval to a particular developer, approve a tax abatement or authorize construction at a specific location. Any future project will still have to complete the city’s site plan review process and satisfy the requirements of the amended ordinance.