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Data center project · Clinton County, Ohio

AWS Wilmington data center campus

Approved · Amazon's proposed $4 billion campus off US 68 has drawn sustained resident opposition, a blocked ballot initiative and a lawsuit over emergency rezoning.

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Status
Approved · as of Sept. 3, 2026
Approved by
Wilmington City Council (Ohio)
Rezoning from rural residential to light industrial, passed as emergency legislation, Sept. 3, 2026, vote 7-0
At the previous meeting the emergency rezoning had failed 5-2 because it needed 75% of the vote. On Feb. 19, 2026 council had voted 5-2 to rezone four parcels of more than 545 acres near the site. Final passage of the tax agreement and site plan approval were not confirmed. (FOX19 (WXIX), Sept. 4, 2026; FOX19 (WXIX), Sept. 18, 2026; WCPO 9, Feb. 20, 2026)
Location
1488 South US 68, Wilmington (some reports give 1588) · Clinton County
Status note
Council rezoned land for the campus, most recently under emergency procedures on Sept. 3, 2026; final passage of the tax agreement and approval of the site plan were not confirmed in the sources opened.
Land
471 acres
Investment
About $4 billion, plus about $25 million in public infrastructure (sewer, a 1-million-gallon water tower, about 2.5 miles of water main, US 68 and SR 730 road work)
Developer and team
Amazon Web Services
End user
Amazon Web Services
Incentives
Proposed Ordinance O-25-73: a compensation agreement among AWS, the city and the Clinton County Port Authority with up to 30 years of tax exemption, under which Amazon would pay 30% of the property tax otherwise owed each year; Wilmington City Schools approved its compensation agreement on Nov. 19, 2025
Evidence
News reports; primary records not yet obtained
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.

Updates, newest first

  1. Sept. 18, 2026 The Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the Clinton County Board of Elections' refusal to place a citizen data center zoning initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot, finding the city could not create the private right to sue it contained. (FOX19 (WXIX), Sept. 18, 2026)
  2. Sept. 3, 2026 Council passed a rezoning from rural residential to light industrial under emergency procedures, following an August noise ordinance also passed as an emergency; a resident sued over the emergency rezoning. (FOX19 (WXIX), Sept. 18, 2026)
  3. Feb. 19, 2026 Council voted 5-2 to rezone four parcels of more than 545 acres from rural residential to light industrial near the site, against a regional planning commission recommendation to table. (WCPO 9, Feb. 20, 2026; WHIO, Feb. 6, 2026)
  4. Jan. 7, 2026 Wilmington Planning Commission unanimously tabled the site plan, citing incomplete traffic, lighting and water studies. (DatacenterDynamics, Jan. 7, 2026)
  5. Dec. 4, 2025 Council moved the tax agreement past the first of three required readings. (WCPO 9, Dec. 4, 2025)
  6. Nov. 25, 2025 City council delayed its vote on the tax agreement to Dec. 4 after about 40 residents spoke, many urging rejection. (DatacenterDynamics, Nov. 28, 2025)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Address given as 1588 South US 68 by DCD in November 2025 and 1488 South US 68 in later reports.
  • Reporting describes the annual payroll as $8 million (WCPO) and $8bn (DCD); $8 million is the plausible figure.
  • Searches surfaced a Local 12 report that a judge ordered the city to redo data center ordinances over an open-meetings violation; that page could not be opened, so it is not entered as an event.

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