Data center moratorium moves to Boone County Commissioners
A one-year data center moratorium in unincorporated Boone County, Indiana, received a favorable recommendation from the Area Plan Commission and will now be heard by the County Commissioners. The moratorium aims to allow time to explore a potential permanent ban, with some residents advocating for an immediate ban due to infrastructure concerns.
The Boone County Commissioners are set to hear a proposed one-year moratorium on data center development in the unincorporated areas of Boone County, Indiana. This follows a favorable recommendation from the Boone County Area Plan Commission on June 3.
The moratorium aims to provide the commission with time to investigate a potential outright ban on data centers, and to determine appropriate sizes for any future projects. John Merson, president of the plan commission, expressed doubts about rural Boone County's infrastructure capacity to support such facilities and previously stated his belief that data centers should be banned.
During the June 3 meeting, four residents spoke, all supporting a pause in data center projects, with some advocating for an immediate and permanent ban. Cynthia Holmes of Thorntown stated, "I'd rather you just say no more to begin with and not even mess with a year... they're no good for us, and they're not good for our county."
Indiana currently has eleven counties with data center moratoriums, and two, Marshall and Cass counties, have already implemented outright bans. The commissioners' next meeting is scheduled for June 15 at 9 a.m.