LAFAYETTE, IN — No large data centers are planned in Tippecanoe County, so commissioners tweaked the unified zoning ordinances to specify what a data center is and where centers can — and cannot — be developed.
Tippecanoe County commissioners approved a change to the zoning ordinances at their Monday meeting. The adjustment fills in unpredictable shortcomings in the 1998 zoning ordinance on “computer programing, data processing and other computer-related services.”
In the county’s unified ordinance, a data center is defined as “computer programming, data processing and other computer related services.” Until Monday, those operations were allowed in most commercial and industrial zones.
The new change specifically distinguishes a data center, which is 10,000 square feet or less, from a large data center, which is more than 10,000 square feet.
“Indiana has already seen large data centers,” Area Plan Commission Director Ryan O’Gara said. “These are very large — hundreds of acres — complexes.”
“While we don’t have any pending, we felt like it was best to get ahead of it, and at least create … a stop-gap measure allowing for them, but giving them some sort of a narrow pathway.”
Purdue University is excluded from the definitions for data centers and large data center if these centers are on university-owned land, O’Gara said.
Nothing changes for data centers 10,000 square feet or less, O’Gara said.
If, however, there are plans for a large data center — more than 10,000 square feet — it will be limited to an I2 zoning district.
There are not many I2 zones in the county, O’Gara said. The large data center can be established only by a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
“A very narrow path, but not a prohibition,” O’Gara said. “We’re just paving a path for this, and this path would give sort of maximum public scrutiny because there would be a rezone action.”
Commissioner Tracy Brown said he received an email suggesting that the county ban all large data centers. He said none are planned.
“We’re just trying to figure out a path forward and still allow for the smaller operations,” Brown said.
“There is no large-data-center project that’s being presented here,” commissioner Tom Murtaugh said.
All three commissioners voted to amend the unified zoning ordinance to restrict the large data centers to I2 zones.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: County commissioners define large data centers, curb where they can be developed
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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