Neighborhood leaders press for data-center moratorium as rezoning fights proceed

Pat Andrews, host of the McKenna Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations, said neighborhood leaders have spent years contesting a string of large data-center proposals across Marion County and urged an immediate policy pause.

“We do have a tiny little topic called data centers,” Andrews said, summarizing multiple zoning fights and incentive negotiations. She listed recent cases — a withdrawn 1‑gigawatt Google proposal in Franklin Township, a 75‑megawatt Martindale‑Brightwood rezoning now in court, and a 250‑megawatt Decatur Township filing that used a variance of use and is being litigated — and said those cases revealed gaps in local regulation.

Neighborhood attendees described what they said were the most urgent local risks from large-scale data centers: noise, water contamination and disposal of treatment byproducts, large on‑site diesel fuel storage near homes, and lithium-battery fire hazards. An agency representative said city staff have begun research on environmental impacts of data centers to identify longer-term risks.

The meeting heard that the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee voted 10–3 to strip proposed ordinance language and send a moratorium proposal — through Dec. 30, 2027 — to the full council for consideration. Andrews urged the council to allow time for a vigorous public process to craft regulations that address neighborhood concerns.

“The primary issue from the get go has been that there was no such thing as a data center in the ordinance,” Andrews said, adding that the moratorium would buy time for an ordinance that “protects everyone.”

Participants also discussed the incentive process, noting that the state’s Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) can offer long-term sales‑tax exemptions and that local abatements discussed for some projects could total tens of millions of dollars. Attendees warned that some developers’ business models depend on those incentives and that abatement denials can change project calculations.

Next steps described at the meeting: the full council is scheduled to review the committee action on Aug. 10; if the council changes language that differs from Metropolitan Development Commission (MDC) submissions, the item may return to the MDC and could generate additional public hearings or legal challenges.

Why it matters: neighborhood leaders argued that the combination of very large projects, limited local ordinance language, and powerful state and local incentives means the moratorium is a pause to allow public review of environmental, fire‑safety, and land‑use impacts before new projects proceed.

What’s next: residents and advocates said they will continue monitoring MDC and council actions and press for a public, transparent ordinance‑writing process.