Dozens of Sunbury residents packed into city chambers this month, lining the walls and spilling into the hallway as they tried to slam the brakes on a rezoning request that could reshape their corner of Delaware County. The proposal would clear more than 330 acres in the new Sunbury Business and Technology Park for industrial and technology use, a move opponents say would all but greenlight a roughly $2 billion Amazon data center campus. Neighbors say they are staring down a future of heavy water use, nonstop industrial noise, and decades of tax breaks that may not come with the long-term jobs they want. The fight has turned this usually quiet town into an early battleground in central Ohio’s data center boom.
According to a city press release, the council has already approved a Community Reinvestment Area incentive for Amazon Data Services. The company has committed to about $2 billion in new capital assets and roughly 50 direct high-wage jobs. The City of Sunbury is pitching the deal as a way to diversify the tax base and funnel more support to local institutions, including the Big Walnut schools and the BST&G Fire District.
Industry coverage reports that Amazon Web Services has already made a major real estate move nearby. The company purchased a parcel at 11793 Vans Valley Road for about $44 million and has discussed a phased buildout starting in 2028, according to Data Center Dynamics. That acquisition, paired with recent city zoning changes, set the stage for the current rezoning push that would clear the way for industrial and technology uses across the site.
At a standing-room-only Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, residents told local TV crews their resistance is driven by health and environmental fears, not just aesthetics. Concerns range from air and water impacts to the constant hum of cooling equipment and the roar of backup generators. One attendee boiled it down in an interview: “Prove that it’s safe,” community members told WCMH/NBC4. Organizers say they are leaning on social media and town-hall style meetings to keep neighbors informed and to press for more detailed studies before any final rezoning vote.
Neighbors’ top concerns
Local reporting and community organizers describe a tight list of recurring fears: heavy water consumption and stormwater impacts, the possibility of constant low-level industrial noise, a spike in truck traffic during years of construction, and the long shadow of tax abatements that could curb local property tax revenue. 1808Delaware notes that these issues have managed to unite multiple neighborhoods that do not always line up politically, all circling around a shared demand for clearer information and enforceable guarantees.
Tax breaks and the trade-offs
The financial terms are substantial. The project’s 30-year Community Reinvestment Area agreement would provide steep property tax exemptions: roughly 87.5% for years 1 through 15 and 75% for years 16 through 30. City officials say those breaks are designed to attract large-scale capital investment that, over time, will still help support schools and fire and emergency services. Those figures appear in public documents from the City of Sunbury.
Where the process stands
The rezoning proposal was initially scheduled for a public hearing on March 23, but the meeting did not go as planned. The Planning and Zoning Commission did not move forward after the applicant missed a filing deadline for updated documents, city officials told The Columbus Dispatch. For now, the rezoning application and related materials are sitting at the Sunbury administrative office, available for anyone who wants to read the fine print. Local coverage has urged residents to review the Sunbury 37 LLC file before the commission resumes its deliberations, according to 1808Delaware.
The bigger picture
Sunbury’s argument over one data center campus is part of a much larger regional fight. Across central Ohio, communities have been pumping the brakes or tightening local rules as hyperscale data center projects multiply. Some jurisdictions have gone so far as to impose temporary moratoria while leaders debate whether state-level tax incentives and permitting laws need a tune-up. Regional reporting and TV coverage show that Sunbury is now squarely in the middle of that broader conversation about how much big-tech development small towns should be expected to absorb, a debate captured in coverage from the Scioto Post.
