TEMPORARY MORATORIUM APPROVED 6-1

David took on Goliath last night, and David won – Big Time.

In a 6-1 vote, Grove City Council approved a 12-month moratorium on consideration of a proposed 310-acre data center.

 A standing-room-only crowd of over 200 residents cheered as Council Clerk Tami K. Kelly announced the final tally. The crowd, one of the largest to ever attend a Council meeting, spilled out into the hallway and into the City Hall basement where closed-circuit TV provided a real-time view of the proceedings. Members of the audience – which represented Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals – hugged and high-fived each other.

Rookie Councilman Mohamed Omar, the moratorium’s chief sponsor, deftly shepherded the moratorium through Council, diplomatically accepting several amendments proposed by Council member Alan Sturm.

After the meeting, Omar said, “You have to respect your fellow Council members. You have to be willing to listen to their concerns and accept their amendments.” Omar’s remarks resulted in several residents dubbing him, “The Velvet Glove.”

Joining Omar and Sturm in voting to enact the moratorium were Council members Jodi Burroughs, Melissa Anderson, George Holinga and Ted Berry.

One of the highlights of the meeting came when Jen Belt of neighboring Pleasant Township presented Council members with a petition signed by over 4,000 Grove City-area residents opposing the hyper-scale project west of Harrisburg Pike. The signatures had been collected over the past several weeks.

Despite what was seen as widespread opposition throughout the city to the data center, Councilman Randy Holt implied critics did not represent the true feelings of most residents. Holt was the lone negative vote.

His opposition to the moratorium and his implied insult to the audience are seen as major blows to his hopes of becoming the city’s next mayor, if Ike Stage does not seek re-election. 

Because Omar’s ordinance was approved as an emergency, it will become effective immediately. The ordinance is comprehensive. It would halt any further steps toward a final vote on the project. In the interim, a task force will consult both pro and con experts and issue its findings within six months. However, the findings apparently would lay dormant until the year-long moratorium expires.

Law Director Stephen J. Smith played a key role in explaining details of the ordinance and Sturm’s amendments.

Some data center critics were wary of Smith before the meeting, noting that he had expressed skepticism about moratoriums during a Council meeting last month. But those concerns evaporated last night as Smith expressed unbiased and insightful opinions.

The pro-moratorium vote came after four representatives of Headwaters Site Development of Dallas, Texas, extolled the virtues of the proposed data center for almost 50 minutes. Mike Lebow, founder and CEO of the development company, said his team was exited about opening operations in Grove City. His company wants to become a part of the community, Lebow added.

But in the citizen-participation part of the meeting, three residents noted that Lebow’s attorney three days earlier had threatened to sue the city and ask for damages, if the moratorium was enacted. Such hardball tactics belied Lebow’s claims that his company wants to cooperate with city officials in moving Grove City forward, the three alleged.

The moratorium’s approval, especially by such a lopsided vote, surprised many City Hall insiders. Although Mayor Stage did not publicly take a stand on the Headwaters Development project, he had been a major cheerleader of another data center that was defeated unanimously by Council three years ago. City Hall insiders expected Stage to eventually endorse the new center, also. During last night’s meeting, Stage did not reveal his position.

Holt’s vote against the moratorium surprised many. They noted that he voted against the earlier data center. His flip-flop was especially confusing to many because Berry was consistent in his opposition. Berry voted against the 2023 data center, and he was an early opponent of the newest version. Berry and Holt are the only two current Council members who were on Council in both years.

The moratorium vote is seen as an upset victory for grassroots activists. Headwaters Development’s project early on was considered a shoo-in. Although citizen opposition has been growing steadily across the nation, most local officials have continued to approve such projects with regularity.

Some of the nation’s largest high-tech companies and investment behemoths have lobbied on behalf of the massive facilities.  Headwaters Development has deep pockets. Its sister business, Stream Data Centers construction company, is owned by Apollo Global Fund Management, a private equity firm with almost $1 trillion in managed assets.