Amazon is holding a public open house Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Edgewood Middle School to discuss its proposed data center facility spanning nearly 600 acres across Madison and St. Clair townships near Trenton, Ohio, even as the City of Trenton works to annex the land and residents prepare to vote on a measure that could block the project entirely.
The meeting, described as a community conversation, comes as the city navigates a contentious annexation process, according to WKRC. The proposed campus would include 18 single-story buildings totaling nearly 4 million square feet on land straddling Wayne Madison and Hawkins roads, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier, which puts the project's scale at roughly $5 billion.
Trenton withdrew its 601-acre annexation petition in September, just one day before a scheduled Butler County Commissioners public hearing, pausing the legal process until after the November election. Both Madison and St. Clair townships had formally objected to losing jurisdiction over the land, 91.7 WVXU reports.
A Ballot Measure That Could Stop the Project Cold
Trenton residents will vote on Issue 17 on November 3, a citizen-led charter amendment that would ban data centers with an aggregate electricity demand exceeding 25 megawatts. The measure only reached the ballot after a September Ohio Supreme Court ruling forced the city to include it, per the same WVXU report. The community group WATER collected the signatures behind the petition after city council initially rejected it.
City leaders have responded with a financial counteroffer. In October, Trenton City Council introduced resolutions offering residents a one-year general fund property tax holiday and a freeze on future public-safety tax levies, explicitly contingent on voters defeating Issue 17 and clearing the way for the AWS project. The station notes the proposed tax break would save homeowners roughly $113.40 per $100,000 in property valuation.
Townships Already Living Under a Moratorium
The fight over the 601-acre site isn't happening in a regulatory vacuum. The Butler County Board of Commissioners approved a six-month moratorium on data center permits back in June across six townships under county zoning control, including Madison Township, giving officials time to study impacts on water, power, and local infrastructure, per the same WVXU account.
Land ownership adds another wrinkle. The proposed site is held by five property owners, including the City of Trenton itself, which acquired a 164-acre farmstead in October 2025 before Amazon's full plans were public, according to DataCenter Dynamics. Amazon has indicated it's willing to fund local road upgrades and a $750,000 veterans memorial as part of the deal.
Trenton's Second Amazon Project Is Already Under Construction
This isn't Trenton's first brush with a hyperscale data center. Amazon is already the primary end-user for Project Mila, a separate 141-acre, four-building campus being developed by Prologis in Trenton's industrial park, which received city planning approval back in March; Baxtel reports that the project spans roughly 900,000 square feet with operational delivery targeted for 2028 — meaning Trenton residents are now confronting two massive Amazon-linked facilities at once, a reality Hoodline covered as construction began.
The power demands behind these projects are substantial. Duke Energy Ohio has filed with the Ohio Power Siting Board to construct two 345-kV transmission circuits at its Woodsdale Substation on Woodsdale Road, connecting to a new customer facility, according to Duke Energy.
Part of a Statewide Amazon Push
The Butler County proposal fits into a much larger pattern. In late 2024, Amazon Web Services said it would invest $23 billion in Ohio by 2030, according to JobsOhio.
Whether Trenton refiles its annexation petition after the election, how the townships respond under the county's active moratorium, and whether legal challenges emerge regardless of the outcome all remain open questions. For now, Thursday's open house at Edgewood Middle School gives residents a direct chance to question Amazon representatives before they head to the polls in three weeks.
