Cuyahoga Falls City Council voted 10-1 on Monday to approve new standards restricting where large data centers can be built and how much power, water and noise they can generate, a move city leaders describe as a preventive measure rather than a ban. The legislation caps data center size at under 5,000 square feet, limits locations to areas zoned for manufacturing or employment, and sets new rules for electricity use, water consumption, noise and hazardous materials.
As reported by Ideastream, data centers in Cuyahoga Falls may now use no more than five megawatts of electricity, and any property's water consumption must be approved by the Cuyahoga Falls Water Department. The outlet also reports the standards require data centers to keep noise pollution under 70 decibels and to meet Ohio Environmental Protection Agency standards for air and water pollution discharges.
Facilities that manage toxic or hazardous materials on site must report that to the local fire department, and on-site management of those materials has to meet Ohio EPA requirements, per the same account. The legislation also prohibits data centers from releasing toxic or hazardous materials on their property altogether.
Mayor Frames Rules As Balance, Not Ban
Mayor Don Walters said the city sought a balance between welcoming industry and protecting the community rather than shutting data centers out entirely, according to the Ideastream report. Walters pointed to the city's ownership of its own electric and water utilities as giving Cuyahoga Falls a unique position to set its own usage limits for data centers, the station's report notes.
Walters said Cuyahoga Falls has not actually been approached about a large data center project, and that the city lacks the kind of land a mega-scale facility would need. Even so, he said the city wanted safeguards in place before any such proposal arrives. The mayor added that Cuyahoga Falls already has several small data centers that meet the new standards, and the legislation will not affect those existing facilities, per the same account.
Ohio's Data Center Boom Spurs A Patchwork Of Local Rules
Cuyahoga Falls is acting amid a statewide surge in data center construction. Ohio has more than 200 data center projects planned or under construction, the fifth-highest number of any state in the nation, according to WOSU Public Media. A May 2026 guide from the Cuyahoga County Data Center Working Group had already found nearly 200 data centers operating statewide, including several dozen within Cuyahoga County itself.
That same guide, examined by Hoodline, reported that as of April 2026, at least 12 U.S. states and dozens of municipalities had introduced or enacted pauses on data center development. The guide recommends that municipalities use zoning to set enforceable conditions on data centers, including noise limits, water and energy caps, and reporting and transparency requirements — guidance that appears to closely mirror the structure of the rules Cuyahoga Falls just adopted. Separately, the sector's growth trajectory remains steep: the data center industry is expected to grow by almost 30% by 2034, Spectrum News 1 has reported.
Ballot Measures Show Voters Elsewhere Going Further
Cuyahoga Falls' council-approved approach contrasts with a string of ballot measures Ohio voters decided on November 3, 2026. In Sunbury, voters approved an outright ban on large data center facilities with 79% support, while Perry voters approved restrictions, including a bond requirement for developers seeking tax incentives and new noise rules, with 87% in favor, according to WOSU Public Media. Conneaut voters passed a charter amendment prohibiting data centers larger than 25 megawatts with 64% support, and Grove City voters approved a charter amendment requiring a citywide vote on developments that cross certain size, electricity, or water thresholds, which passed with 54.6% support.
Other cities have taken yet another route. The county guide noted that Aurora, Illinois, used a six-month moratorium to build out comprehensive data center regulations, while Cleveland was reported to be considering a similar development pause. In Minneapolis, a city council committee recommended allowing data centers only inside existing buildings in two downtown zoning districts, capping server and equipment space at 150,000 square feet, according to GovTech. That proposal would also require owners to disclose projected water, electricity and backup-generator usage and submit a noise-limiting plan, with data centers barred from being a property's only use and servers kept at least 20 feet from exterior walls and 100 feet from residential housing. GovTech also reported that more than 1,600 public comments had been submitted to Minneapolis regarding the rules, with the vast majority opposing data centers outright.
For now, Cuyahoga Falls' newly approved standards stand as a preemptive framework rather than a response to any pending project. With no mega data center proposal on the table and limited land available for one, city officials are betting that locking in size, power, water and safety limits now will spare the city a fight later, should a developer eventually come calling.
