Boone County adopts 1-year data center moratorium
Boone County, Indiana, unanimously enacted a yearlong moratorium on new data center development in its unincorporated areas and the town of Advance to allow time for drafting new zoning regulations. This decision follows local opposition to Meta's data center campus in Lebanon, though the moratorium does not affect existing projects. The county's current zoning ordinance is outdated and does not address modern data centers.
The Boone County Board of Commissioners in Indiana unanimously voted on June 15 to impose a one-year moratorium on new data center development. The temporary ban applies to unincorporated parts of the county and the town of Advance, specifically excluding the existing Meta data center campus located in Lebanon's LEAP district, which was annexed prior to construction.
This action makes Boone the twelfth county in Indiana to pause data center development, reflecting a broader national trend of backlash against these facilities. The moratorium is intended to provide the Boone County Area Plan Commission, which drafted the measure, sufficient time to develop comprehensive zoning regulations, as the county's current 1998 ordinance does not adequately address modern data centers. The new regulations are expected to create an overlay district, similar to a recently adopted Energy Overlay District, potentially including setback requirements, environmental reviews, and noise limits.
The ongoing construction of Meta's $10 billion campus in Boone County has already generated significant environmental and community opposition. Concerns include the immense electricity consumption of data centers, which can strain local power grids and increase utility bills, and the constant noise from generators and cooling systems. Water usage, particularly in the LEAP district which also hosts Eli Lilly manufacturing, is another major point of contention due to data centers' substantial cooling water demands.