Alliance residents have a clear message for City Council: no data center here. More than 70 people turned out for an Oct. 20 council subcommittee meeting, and the residents who spoke left no doubt about where they stand.

The proposal targets the former Alliance Casting Company property at 1001 E. Broadway St., a contaminated brownfield on the north side of town. Alliance Park Development LLC, an affiliate of real estate firm Applied Partners LLC, paid $4.75 million for it. The company that would actually use the data center has not been disclosed, and nobody from the developer attended the meeting.

Neighbors have reason to worry. Communities across the country have pushed back on large data centers over heavy water use, strain on the power grid, noise, tax incentives and what happens to nearby homes over time. William Barzda, a nearby resident, told council he may have to leave his home if it goes up. Applied Partners was also fined $500,000 in June over a Clean Air Act violation tied to a demolition in Michigan.

“I am not against progress in Alliance,” resident Tarah Bentley told council members, according to the Canton Repository. “We have plenty of growth opportunities, but I’m speaking because the people of Alliance never asked for this.”

Alliance already has an 18-month moratorium on new data centers, and council is drafting zoning rules for them right now. Setbacks and noise studies can’t fix a project the community doesn’t want. The Alliance City Council and the mayor should reject this data center outright.

Sign the petition to tell the Alliance City Council: no data center on Broadway St., before new zoning rules open the door.