Fort Wayne City Council votes no on data center moratorium, task force
The Fort Wayne City Council rejected proposals for a one-year moratorium on large data center approvals and a task force to study their impacts. The decision followed controversy over Google’s $2 billion data center, including concerns about environmental effects and future expansion.
Fort Wayne City Council members voted down a proposed one-year pause on approvals for large data centers and a separate resolution creating a study commission. The moratorium proposal failed 4-4, while the task force measure failed 5-3; Councilman Tom Freistroffer was absent. The proposals were introduced by Councilwoman Rohli Booker after more than a year of debate over Google’s data center in southeast Fort Wayne.
Google’s 892-acre campus, announced as Project Zodiac and operational since December, is expected to add more buildings. Supporters, including Booker and Councilman Geoff Paddock, said the city should establish clearer standards before another hyperscale project is proposed, while opponents argued the legislation would create redundant bureaucracy and interfere with the Plan Commission’s role. The Fort Wayne Plan Commission has separately asked the Department of Planning Services to review data center zoning definitions.