Headwaters data center
Grove City
Description
Before the moratorium, Headwaters proposed six buildings on about 310 acres with a stated maximum water demand of 48,000 gallons per day. Engineers reviewed only preliminary utility concepts; no contact has occurred since the moratorium.
Impact summary
Staff estimated roughly $36 million in infrastructure asks (road, water and sanitary extensions) and raised concerns about on-site power generation the state could approve without any local vote.
Applicant
- Address
- Ranch and Beatty Roads, Grove City, Ohio
At a glance
- Hearings
- 2
- Public comments
- 0
- Total mentions
- 2
Last vote
Discussed at 1 meeting in the last 60 days; most recently Sep 23, 2026.
Meeting timeline (2)
General - Sep 23, 2026
Before the moratorium, Headwaters proposed six buildings on about 310 acres with a stated maximum water demand of 48,000 gallons per day. Engineers reviewed only preliminary utility concepts; no contact has occurred since the moratorium.
General - Aug 19, 2026
Headwaters pursued a large data center site straddling Jackson and Pleasant townships, submitting a preliminary development plan and proposed development agreement before Council imposed a data center moratorium; the project has since stalled.
Related issues (3)
Data center development in Grove City
EMH&T engineers explained how Grove City's water and sewer systems are planned, modeled, and connected to Columbus, and how a large water user like a data center would be evaluated. The Headwaters proposal's projected 48,000 gallons per day was far below what a residential development on the same land would use, but engineers stressed every project must be validated through modeling and binding development agreements.
Data center regulation task force
The committee is tasked with developing standards and a process for data centers. Staff explained that keeping data centers a non-permitted use preserves Council's full discretion to say no, while writing standards now would lock the city into approving compliant projects.
Headwaters data center proposal and moratorium
Before the moratorium, the Headwaters developer proposed six buildings on roughly 310 acres between Ranch and Beatty Roads with a claimed 48,000 gallons-per-day maximum water demand using closed-loop or air-cooled chillers. There has been no contact with the developer since the moratorium, and the end user (potentially Amazon or Meta) was never identified.
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