Data centers in Preble County, Ohio: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Preble County's only data center proposal has been withdrawn, but its backers say it will be back. In 2025 PRSM, an Arlington, Virginia, land development company, sought through the landowners to rezone about 298 acres of farmland in Jefferson Township, along Orphans Road south of Interstate 70 near Eaton, so that 270 acres could host a computer data storage center, DCD and The Register-Herald reported. There was no end user lined up. "If we can't find the right buyer, we'll rezone to agriculture," PRSM president Patrick Scanlon told WDTN.

The county's advisory boards turned it down: the Preble County Planning Commission voted 11-0 against on Aug. 21, 2025, and the Rural Zoning Commission 5-0 on Sept. 2, after a hearing that drew an overflow crowd worried about water and electricity bills. On Sept. 29, before the county commissioners could vote, the landowners withdrew the application, saying the process "requires a different approach and will be re-evaluated sometime in the future." Residents had begun organizing a referendum campaign, Signal Ohio reported. "I've never seen the citizens of this county so universally upset and perturbed about something as I have this particular issue," said Gene Krebs, a former Republican state lawmaker from the county.

"Interest in having a data center on that land has not gone away," Scanlon said after the withdrawal. Brad Kramer, the county's land use director, told commissioners that a new application would start over at the planning commission, and that PRSM does not have to wait a year to refile.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.