On Thursday night, The Vanderburgh County Area Plan Commission (APC) voted unanimously to recommend a data center ordinance to the County Commission, which has the final say in the matter.
Counties Posey and Warrick have ordinances in the works to regulate them, though the Warrick County APC recently voted to step back and study the issue more.
The first draft proposed the creation a five-person study group appointed by the County Commission, and defer any data center permits for 180 days of the signing of the ordinance.
On Thursday, the exact language of the measure was changed to shorten how long data center permits are deferred. Now it’s just through 2026.
"The intent being that I believe that the county wants to move this along this process along quickly," said APC member Dirck Stahl. "Obviously, they still have the ability to extend it if necessary, but that is the intent is to have it done by the end of the year."
They also removed limits on how many individuals can sit on the data center study committee.
Resident John Sarad is concerned the study group could include too many industry insiders.
“I'd like to see members of the public for sure — not just people that work for the city or County and representatives of the industry. I want to see some actual citizens that have other interests besides the insiders.”
Many meeting attendees wanted data center projects to be paused for two years — not just until the end of 2026.
“This would not only give the committee additional time to research and develop thoughtful recommendations to be incorporated into the zoning, but more importantly, it offers some insulation, a buffer to our community if the AI bubble were to burst,” Christopher Norrick said during public comment.
Such details are up to the County Commission, which will likely vote on August 25th.
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