Members of the Mt. Orab community are in search of answers, and many of them were left out in the cold during the Jan. 20 regular Village of Mt. Orab council meeting.
Residents of the village and the surrounding area want to know what’s to become of the 1,018 acre mega-site in the village, but signed non-disclosure agreements have kept the public in the dark.
Many residents are concerned that the mega-site will become the location of a data center, and they want facts on the mega-site that have not yet been provided by village officials and the Southwest Ohio Regional Development Authority (formerly the Mt. Orab Port Authority).
“I don’t like being blindsided,” Mt. Orab resident Elyse Glover said during the Jan. 20 council meeting. Glover was among at least 10 visitors to the Jan. 20 council meeting who were placed on the meeting agenda to speak publicly to council.
Residents of the village and others are calling for transparency from council on a decision that could have a significant environmental impact close to home.
“We are concerned that our best interests aren’t being met with these non-disclosure agreements,” Josh Jackson said while addressing council during the Jan. 20 meeting.
The Brown County Press reached out to Kelly Cole (development director), requesting information on the purchase of the mega-site.
“DB STU, LLC was the purchaser and no other information is available for release at this time,” was the response received from Cole.
The purchase by DB STU, LLC has sparked controversy in the Mt. Orab community over secrecy, and the potential of a data center being constructed at the mega-site with DB STU LLC serving as a placeholder for a major company such as Amazon.
Many residents have worries of the potential environmental impact a data center could have on Mt. Orab and the surrounding area if one is to be constructed at the mega-site.
The Village of Mt. Orab has four new members serving on village council after the November 2025 General Election, and according to councilman Eric Lang, the mega-site deal was already in the works when he took over his council seat.
“I truly believe that you have four new people coming in here that are super compassionate and are concerned with what’s going on in Mt. Orab; and I will just go ahead and tell you flat out, I have the same concerns that you probably have, and that’s part of the reason that I’m sitting here right now,” Lang said to Jackson during the Jan. 20 meeting. “As far as the non-disclosure agreements…you have four people coming in, and you have a project that we had heard the first night we came in was already underway.”
“We haven’t been briefed on anything, so we don’t know yet what’s going on,” Lang continued.
Lang said he did sign a non-disclosure agreement, but has since rescinded on his non-disclosure agreement.
“I rescinded my non-disclosure agreement, I don’t know if anybody else intends to; but now that I’ve done that, there’s a bunch of gray areas. So, I don’t know if I’ll get a briefing on what’s going on or not,” Lang added, receiving applause from members of the public in attendance for rescinding the non-disclosure agreement.
With expectations of a large crowd in attendance to the Jan. 20 council meeting, the Village of Mt. Orab council still chose to keep the meeting located at the village offices on S. High Street in the meeting room that allows 33 people total, rather than finding a larger venue to allow for more public participation. But council members agreed with the request that a special meeting be held at a larger venue in coming days to allow for more members of the public to voice their concerns on the mega-site, and a meeting was set for Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the Mt. Orab Middle School.
As of Jan. 26, more than 900 residents in Mt. Orab had signed a petition that calls for putting a halt on the plans for the mega-site.
The 1,018-acre mega-site is bordered by Oakland Road, New Hope-White Oak Station Road and Tri-County Highway.
“It’s about location, public process and transparency, and we don’t have any of that happening,” said Mt. Orab resident, Michael LaTour, who lives near the mega-site.
The number of concerned Mt. Orab residents has continued to grow in recent weeks and they’ve went to social media to share their concerns, recently creating a Facebook group called “Mt. Orab Residents for Responsible Development.”
A property search on the Brown County Auditor’s website (https://realestate.browncountyauditor.org/Search/Name) using the name DB STU LLC brings up several parcels of land in locations that include Tri County Hwy, New Hope Whiteoak, and Oakland.
DB STU LLC is shown as the owner of parcel No. 30-056592.0000 in the location of New Hope White Oak, a 135.96 acre property that sold on Dec. 23, 2024 with the sales amount listed as $21,453,734.
Another property that shows a sale date of Dec. 23, 2024 with DB STU LLC as the owner (parcel No. 30-056588.0100) is listed at 126.18 acres in the location of Oakland (Pike Twp).
A 248.69 acre farm located at 4646 Tri County Hwy that lists DB STU LLC as the owner name on the Brown County Auditor’s website has a “date sold” of Jan. 3, 2025.
A 240.13 acre property located at 4627 Oakland found under a search of properties owned by DB STU LLC also has a “date sold” of Jan. 3, 2025. The list goes on.
The two mentioned properties with the sales date of Jan. 3, 2025 have no sales amount listed. When a real estate transaction involves a government entity, the sales price does not have to be shown in the sales amount on real estate transfer reports, according to the Brown County Auditor’s Office.
The contact information for DB STU LLC found during the property search is listed as: DB STU LLC, c/o Vorys Sater Symour and Pease LLC, 52 E. Gay St., Columbus, OH 43215-3108.
Whatever the intentions may be, DB STU LLC has been buying up Brown County land in bulk, and many people who call Mt. Orab their home want to know why.