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Peru planning commission approves temporary moratorium on data centers
Summary
The Peru Planning Commission voted unanimously to impose a temporary moratorium on new data centers while the city drafts an ordinance to regulate them, citing concerns that industrially zoned properties could be used immediately for such facilities; a local activist group voiced support.
The Peru Planning Commission voted to approve a temporary moratorium on new data centers within city limits, pausing development until the city drafts an ordinance to regulate the facilities.
Tim Fisher, who identified himself as a member of the Peru City Council and said he initiated the moratorium, told the commission the pause is intended to allow the city to adopt “rules and guidelines” before industrially zoned land can be used for data centers. “This is just kind of a hold on until we can have some rules and guidelines in place around data centers,” Fisher said.
During the public-comment portion, Tori Pendell, who said she lives on East Main Street and has worked with the county on data-center issues since December 2025, told commissioners her group, Miami Cass County's Coalition for Utility and Environmental Protection, supports the city’s moratorium. “I am fully in support of you guys passing a moratorium,” Pendell said, describing her group’s role in shaping the county’s moratorium and proposed ordinance.
Commissioners asked staff and Fisher whether rules and regulations to govern data centers already exist; Fisher said they do not and that the city plans to use the county’s forthcoming ordinance as a starting point rather than drafting a separate package from scratch. He noted the county was scheduled to vote on its ordinance on the 20th of the month and that the proposed county text remained a work in progress.
After discussion, the commission moved to a roll-call vote. The recorded responses were ‘Yes’ from Joe Molineaux, Mike Sabolish, Dennis C., Jeremy Brittenbach and Jim Baker, and the moratorium was adopted. The moratorium places a temporary hold on construction of new data-center facilities until the city council and city attorney finalize an ordinance establishing standards and any required permitting.
Procedure notes: the commission also moved earlier in the meeting to dispense with the reading of the previous month’s minutes; that procedural motion passed separately before the moratorium vote.
The commission took no final action on any ordinance text at the meeting; the next steps described by Fisher were drafting the city ordinance, coordinating with the county’s work, and presenting the proposed text to the City Council for formal adoption.
