Potential data center moratorium moves forward in Starke County

KNOX, Ind.-- Starke County residents made their voices heard Thursday evening on the future of data centers. The Starke County Planning Commission held a public hearing on a proposed 12-month moratorium, or temporary halt, on new applications and permits for large-scale data centers.

It was a unanimous vote for a favorable recommendation on the moratorium, which will be sent to the Starke County Board of Commissioners for a final meeting and possible adoption. 

The potential pause would give the county a year to slow down and make sure they are ready for any hyper-scale data center projects. At the meeting, the planning commission was asking the community if they want to take the time to evaluate current zoning laws and if Starke County has the ability to support a hyper-scale data center project.

It seemed that is what the community wanted; of the dozens of speakers, no one was there to support data centers.

Many residents spoke in support of the moratorium, with some asking for a longer period than 12 months. Others even asking for a permanent ban on data centers in Starke County, although the board's attorney explained that wasn't a possible action at this meeting.

“When we talk about data centers over 5000 square feet, we’re not just talking about a bigger building, we’re talking about a level of complexity that is far beyond anything Starke County has had to oversee." Starke County resident, Roberta Lee. "And the truth is, even with the strongest ordinance in the world, we cannot safely manage a project that we don’t have the staff or infrastructure to monitor.”

Concerns ranged from water use and noise, to worries that the county doesn't have the capacity to oversee a large-scale data center project. Planning commission member, Howard Bailey, let residents know he is also against data centers. During the meeting, he asked the rest of the board if they are aware of any current data center deals in the works, but no one answered him.

“We had a company looking for the data center, I have heard, I don’t know this for a fact, but I have heard they have backed out and they’re no longer looking. So, my question to the rest of the board if you know, did they back out and is there other companies looking?” Said Bailey.