TOLEDO, Ohio — Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken says the county may need to briefly “step back” before racing ahead on large-scale data center development, proposing a 90-to-120-day pause to give local leaders time to better understand the long-term impact these facilities could have across the entire county.
Gerken emphasized his proposal is not a rejection of data centers, nor an endorsement. Instead, he describes it as a moment for county leadership to bring clarity, consistency, and accurate information into a debate that has grown increasingly polarized.
“It’s not against data centers, or for data centers,” said Gerken. “We have a rare opportunity here. Some see it as a threat. Some see it as an opportunity.”
A New version of old economic development
In an interview with WTOL 11, Gerken likened today’s data center interest to the manufacturing boom that helped shape Lucas County decades ago, citing historic investments such as Jeep, Libbey-Owens-Ford, and other major industrial employers that once defined the region’s economic backbone…