Data Centers: Daily Notes | April 8, 2026
Port Washington voters approve TIF referendum requiring public sign-off on large financing districts; Ohio's bipartisan push to end billions in data center tax breaks heats up; Greenfield Township restricts data centers to industrial zones.
At A Glance 🔽
- Ohio lawmakers target data center sales-tax exemption worth $140M+ annually; bipartisan bill SB 374 introduced March 11.
- Clyde, NC schedules April 16 public hearing on data center moratorium.
- Loudoun County, VA Board votes to investigate data center redevelopment potential on former GWU campus sold to Amazon.
- Greenfield Township, PA votes to restrict data centers to industrial zones.
- New Castle Township, PA proposes new highway industrial zoning district with environmental impact study requirement for data centers.
- Port Washington, WI voters approve TIF referendum with 66% support.
OHIO
A bipartisan push in Ohio's General Assembly is targeting the state's sales-tax exemption for data centers, which cost taxpayers an estimated $140 million this fiscal year. Senators Kent Smith (D-Euclid) and Louis Blessing (R-Hamilton County) introduced SB 374 on March 11 to end the incentive for future projects. Governor DeWine vetoed a similar measure in last year's budget bill.
CLYDE, North Carolina
Clyde has scheduled a public hearing on a data center moratorium for April 16 at 4 p.m.
Town Administrator Joy Garland said Clyde has received no development inquiries but believes proactive regulation is prudent given local sentiment. The moratorium would give the town time to craft zoning laws and ordinances for such developments, known for high energy consumption and noise.
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Virginia
April 7 Meeting Documents
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to direct county staff to research data center redevelopment potential on the George Washington University's Ashburn campus after Amazon Data Services acquired it. The April 7 initiative tells staff to research allowable uses, building standards like height limitations and setbacks, and map out possible power lines and substations that data centers could need on the property.
GREENFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania
Greenfield Township supervisors voted to restrict data centers to industrial zones through a zoning amendment designed to close a Pennsylvania land-use loophole. Under state law, if a use is not classified in a particular zoning district, it is allowed in all districts by special exception. Without the amendment, a data center could have been built anywhere in the township.
Township solicitor Nathan Favreau explained the ordinance identifies data centers as a use permitted only within industrial districts, limiting any future facility to specific areas.
NEW CASTLE TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania
New Castle Township supervisors are considering zoning amendments to create a highway industrial zoning district and establish data center regulations after a New York firm purchased land in the township's northern end near Frackville. A public hearing is set for April 22 at 1 p.m., with a vote immediately following.
The proposed ordinance would allow data centers by conditional use within the new district, requiring approval from the zoning hearing board. Standards would cover woodland disturbance, lighting, water, sewer, emergency response plans, buffer zones, and landscaping. An environmental impact study would also be required. The amendments add definitions for data centers, fiber optic switch facilities, and warehousing.
PORT WASHINGTON, Wisconsin
Port Washington voters approved a referendum on April 7 requiring public approval for tax increment financing districts exceeding $10 million, with 66 percent voting yes. About 51 percent of registered voters turned out in the city of almost 13,000, with 2,710 voting yes and 1,371 voting no. The ordinance was proposed by Great Lakes Neighbors United, a grassroots group opposing a proposed $15 billion AI data center for Oracle, OpenAI, and Vantage.
City officials approved a $458 million TIF district for the data center project in November 2025. The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and other business groups sued to block the referendum in January; an Ozaukee County judge denied their injunction request in February. The ordinance does not specifically name data centers and would not apply to existing TIF districts, including the one already approved for the project.
📑 Industry Trend
Google's CEO on The Cheeky Pint podcast talking about data center regulations as a constraint on getting Data Centers built.
Social Listening 🎧: Podcast
Policy talk doesn’t just happen in the news cycle—it can also live in long-form audio. STRisker’s Podcast Signal turns hours of episodes into actionable insight, indexing transcripts so you can surface key mentions of STRs, ordinances, and local decision-makers in seconds.
Stay Updated with STRisker!
STRisker offers tools and features to keep you updated with the Short Term Rental movement (and now Data Centers!) movement across the world.
👍 We’d love your feedback.
Which stories hit? Which ones missed?
We're exploring a new branch of topics centered around Data Centers and want to make it even more useful for you.
✉️ Just reply directly to this email. We read and respond to every message!
-Will McClure
🙋 P.S.
Know someone else who should be reading Daily Notes? Feel free to forward this along. We’re opening a few more spots.