Cervenka Development Partners Data Center (pre-proposal), Amherst, Ohio

Amherst's Board of Zoning Appeals on July 30, 2026, rejected the use variance Cervenka Development Partners needed to turn three buildings on the former Nordson Corporation campus in Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio, into a data center, a day after more than 100 residents packed a hearing at City Hall. The Illinois-based developer had described a data center with a potential power capacity of 45 megawatts at 100, 200 and 300 Nordson Drive, on a 36.58-acre parcel Nordson has listed for sale.

Nordson, founded in Amherst in 1954 and now based in Westlake, is moving out; its older manufacturing buildings at the south end of the campus sit empty and are set to be demolished, while the three newer buildings Cervenka wants are still in use. A Cervenka spokesperson said the company had not bought the property and the zoning request was part of due diligence; the firm, run by Tom and Sasha Cervenka, describes itself as a woman-owned commercial real estate firm.

"It's a small community, and we love how it is," resident Judy Heiser told the zoning board. "And we don't need data centers and noise. We just don't need it." Cervenka argued the buildings, built for Nordson, would be hard for another manufacturer to use, but acknowledged under questioning: "Am I gonna tell you that there is no other user that can use these buildings? No." The board's written decision said he had undermined his own case, and member John Jeffreys noted the buildings had only gone on the market in April.

"The board has spoken. The people have spoken," Mayor Mark Costilow said, adding that if Cervenka sues, "the city will defend its position." Cervenka had 30 days to appeal to the Lorain County Common Pleas Court, a deadline that passed in late August with no further public update since. Costilow said a moratorium on data centers is up to Amherst City Council, though he believes the city's existing zoning code, which does not list data centers as a permitted use, already works.