LaPorte County commissioners ask Planning Commission to consider ordinance restricting data centers to industrial zones

LaPorte County commissioners voted to send a resolution to the County Planning Commission directing staff to consider a data-center ordinance that would restrict siting to industrially zoned land and impose additional requirements, including water- and energy-use mitigation and siting setbacks.

The board moved the item up on the agenda so residents testifying at length would not have to wait through the entire meeting. After the resolution was read by title as Resolution No. 2025-7, commissioners discussed process and potential environmental and infrastructure impacts before approving the measure by voice vote; the vote was announced as passed and recorded verbally as 3–0.

Why it matters: dozens of residents spoke during an extended public-comment period, saying proposed or rumored data centers could strain local wells and sewer systems, increase truck traffic near Kingsbury School, reduce property values and remove farmland from production. Speakers urged the county to require data centers to locate only in industrial parks such as Kingsbury Industrial Park, and to draft clear rules for setbacks, groundwater protections and review processes.

What the board said: Commissioner Holifield and other commissioners emphasized that ordinances typically originate at the Planning Commission and recommended that residents maintain turnout when the issue comes up there. County staff and a member of the economic development office said the Planning Commission would be the petitioner for an ordinance and that a Lake County template covering triggers, water and energy impacts and design standards was being examined as a model. Commissioners estimated an expedited ordinance process could take roughly eight to ten weeks because of public-notice and public-hearing requirements.

Public concerns: speakers described separate property-approach efforts and purchase offers near Kingsbury and elsewhere and reported water-quality problems on some KIP-adjacent properties. Residents raised concerns about cumulative effects if multiple data centers locate near each other, potential eminent-domain use (a county official confirmed LaPorte County has an ordinance prohibiting eminent domain for economic-development takings), and the limited number of local permanent jobs these facilities provide.

Next steps: commissioners directed the Planning Commission to consider the ordinance and announced the matter would be on the Planning Commission agenda Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. County staff said they would post updates on the county website and on social media. The resolution record will accompany the Planning Commission packet for its consideration.

Not a final zoning change: the resolution asks the Planning Commission to prepare an ordinance and does not itself change zoning or preclude individual property owners from pursuing permitted uses. Zoning changes for nonindustrial locations would still require landowner action, BZA consideration and the standard remonstrance process.