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Whitley County planning commission opens public listening session to draft data‑center zoning code
Summary
The planning commission held a public listening session June 24 to solicit community input as staff begins drafting zoning rules for data centers; no applications exist yet and staff proposes July drafting, an August public hearing and commission action by fall.
The Whitley County Planning Commission held a public listening session on June 24 to gather community input as staff begins drafting a county zoning code for data centers, a staff member said.
Brent Emerick, speaking for the commission's staff, told the room Whitley County currently has no data‑center zoning and the goal is to create definitions and performance standards before any proposals arrive. "Whitley County does not have any zoning code that pertains to data centers," Emerick said, and the effort will cover a range of facilities "from the very small hubs... all the way up to the hyperscale" campuses cited in other counties.
The staff presentation reviewed ways to classify data centers (accessory vs. primary use), possible size thresholds by square footage, and performance factors the code could address, including water and electricity usage, noise, parking and decommissioning. Emerick said staff reviewed existing local examples and other Indiana counties' approaches and showed aerial examples of small operations (server rooms inside industrial buildings) through multi‑building campuses.
"We're in a really good position right now because we don't have people knocking down our doors to get data centers in right now," Emerick said, urging the commission to set definitions that protect county interests while allowing appropriate business uses. He outlined a preliminary schedule: code drafting in July, an August public hearing on a draft, followup revisions and an expected plan commission recommendation in September for county commissioner consideration.
Health officials and the public raised technical and environmental questions that staff said would inform the drafting process. Scott Wagner, director of the Whitley County Health Department, urged local controls on cooling systems and water use and recommended closed‑loop geothermal or non‑water cooling for small and medium facilities. "I did recommend that there would be no use of groundwater for cooling or surface waters for cooling," Wagner told the commission, citing the county's 1998 well ordinance and the health department's ability to inspect and GPS monitor wells.
Commissioners emphasized this meeting was a listening session, not a formal public hearing. No ordinance vote took place; staff framed the current phase as information gathering to shape draft language. The commission set a three‑minute speaking limit for public commenters and scheduled the next meeting for July 15 at 7 p.m.
What happens next: staff will draft code language based on legal limits and the public input received; the commission will publish a draft for a formal public hearing before any regulatory changes could be adopted by the county commissioners.
