LORDSTOWN, Ohio - The Lordstown Village Council will meet Monday night to discuss a proposed six-month pause on new data center projects.

The public hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Village Administration Building on Salt Springs Road. Mayor Jaclyn Woodward will lead the meeting to gather feedback from residents.

If approved, the law would stop the village from accepting or processing applications for data centers for up to 180 days. The proposal comes after council members previously voted to ban the facilities entirely, but then reversed that decision in early December.

Local leaders say the pause is necessary to study how these large facilities affect the community. Data centers house rows of computers and servers used for digital storage and cloud computing.

Officials expressed concerns that these projects use massive amounts of electricity and water. They also want to determine if the village has enough infrastructure to support the utility demands without hurting local residents or the environment.

The law includes several exceptions. It would not stop the village from building its own emergency data systems. It also allows small server rooms of less than 500 square feet and businesses that manufacture computer parts.

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber has offered to bring in outside experts to help the village understand the data industry.

The move follows a legal dispute in the Ohio Supreme Court. A group of developers sued the village after officials reportedly stopped reviewing plans for a proposed data center. The developers claim they filed their paperwork before the village tried to block such projects.

Village leaders say they need the 180-day window to update zoning rules and ensure any future growth is sustainable.