Liberty Township's push to regulate data centers gained new urgency after the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ordered neighboring Trenton to let residents vote on banning the facilities outright.

The court ruled Tuesday, Sept. 1, that Trenton City Council "disregarded applicable law" when it refused to certify a charter amendment petition from Woodsdale and Trenton Environmental Resistance, known as WATER, the Statehouse News Bureau reported. The proposed amendment would prohibit new data centers larger than 25 megawatts within city limits. Trenton City Council certified the petition at its Thursday, Sept. 3, meeting and sent it to the Butler County Board of Elections, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Attorneys for the petitioners say the vote is set for Nov. 3.

The ruling lands as Liberty Township trustees prepare to decide on their own data center zoning restrictions. In June, the Liberty Township Zoning Commission advanced a proposed change that would require future data center projects to go through the township's planned unit development process, giving trustees the power to approve or reject proposals case by case. The change would not ban data centers outright.

Trustee President Todd Minniear said at a June 16 zoning commission meeting that his biggest concerns are energy use, water consumption and noise. He said Liberty Township's residential character makes a data center being approved "a long shot."

The Trenton dispute began when WATER gathered 336 valid signatures on its petition. Council voted 4-3 on Aug. 3 to reject the effort, arguing the group needed 820 signatures, equal to 10% of the city's 8,197 registered voters. The court ruled the correct threshold is 10% of votes cast in the last general municipal election. The Butler County Board of Elections confirmed 1,277 residents voted in Trenton's Nov. 4, 2025, general election, making 128 signatures sufficient.

Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Gmoser said the matter was settled: "The Supreme Court has spoken. Period."

Two data center projects are proposed for Trenton. California-based Prologis is building a 141-acre campus called Project Mila, which the company says will create 140 jobs and generate roughly $120,000 annually in utility revenue. Construction has already begun. Amazon Web Services is negotiating a separate 18-building campus on roughly 600 acres the city has sought to annex, a project estimated at $690 million.

The Trenton ruling is the second time in a month the Ohio Supreme Court has ordered an Ohio municipality to let voters weigh in on data centers. In August, the court unanimously ordered the village of Ashville in Pickaway County to submit a similar petition to its board of elections, WYSO reported.

WVXU reported that Trenton's mayor and city attorney did not return requests for comment on the ruling. WATER co-founder Lorie Blankenship told WCPO she was "elated" by the decision.

Liberty Township trustees have not announced a date for a final vote on the zoning change.