Indianapolis/Marion County Enacts Data-Center Moratorium Through 2027 on 23-1 Council and 6-0 Commission Votes

Marion County, Indiana enacted a data-center construction moratorium running through December 31, 2027, completing a process that began with the July 13 committee advance. The Indianapolis City-County Council voted 23-1 on August 10, and the Metropolitan Development Commission gave final approval 6-0 on August 19. Three already-approved projects are grandfathered: DC Blox in Warren Township, Metrobloks in Martindale-Brightwood, and Sabey in Decatur Township. A study committee will examine campus size, building height, environmental impacts, and noise levels before the moratorium lapses.

Separately, Google withdrew its zoning petition for a Franklin Township data center shortly before a scheduled council hearing — a preemptive retreat rather than a denial, and the second such withdrawal-under-moratorium-politics pattern to appear in this timeline alongside the Carlton County, Minnesota action of August 24.

The vote margins are the notable feature. A 23-1 council vote and a 6-0 commission vote in a county actively hosting three approved data-center projects indicate that local opposition here is not a narrow-coalition phenomenon. What the moratorium buys is time to write standards — size, height, noise, environmental impact — that do not currently exist, which is the recurring structural gap these county-level fights expose: the projects arrive faster than the zoning categories that would govern them.