WEATHERSFIELD, Ohio – The Weathersfield Township Board of Trustees said in a message posted on its Facebook page that land where Bitdeer is considering building a new data center is not properly zoned for that purpose.

According to the statement posted Sunday, trustees say that the property at 1047 Belmont Ave. includes four parcels within the city of Niles and three parcels in Weathersfield. 

Those three parcels are zoned Industrial B. Under Weathersfield zoning regulations, “data centers are neither a permitted use nor a conditionally permitted use within the district,” the statement says.

Moreover, the developer had not submitted any formal proposals to the township. 

Bitdeer, based in Singapore, plans to construct a new data center on property that was once home to the Niles Power Plant. The company has filed a petition to annex the Weathersfield property into Niles.

“If annexation is approved, jurisdiction over zoning and development decisions would shift entirely to the city of Niles,” the statement reads. “While annexation proceedings are governed by state law, the township is actively engaged and will pursue all available measures to ensure that any potential development does not negatively impact our community.”

The measures include working with Niles to negotiate a pre-annexation agreement “that establishes enforceable protections related to uses such as land use compatibility, infrastructure impacts, environmental considerations, public safety and quality of life.”

Bitdeer acquired five parcels totaling nearly 43 acres in May 2025. White Tail Creek LLC, an Ohio subsidiary of Bitdeer, purchased 42.6 acres in Niles and Weathersfield township for $3.4 million on May 5, 2025, according to records from the Trumbull County auditor’s office. The land was purchased from Akron-based Magellan Scientific LLC, which on March 31 acquired the property for $4.2 million.

According to the company’s January production and operations update released Feb. 10, Bitdeer plans to commission 300 megawatts of capacity at the 42-acre site by the fourth quarter of 2028, one quarter earlier than the company had previously projected. The operations update noted the site would be used for high-performance computing and AI capabilities. 

Niles City Council has scheduled a public meeting for May 20 to discuss a possible moratorium on construction of data centers.