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Miami County plan commission backs temporary moratorium on data center development
Summary
The Miami County Plan Commission voted to recommend a temporary moratorium on data center development to the Board of Commissioners, approving a resolution that pauses permitting while the county drafts regulations. The recommendation passed in a roll-call vote with one commissioner opposed.
The Miami County Plan Commission on April 8 voted to recommend that the Board of Commissioners adopt a temporary moratorium on new data center development while the county drafts regulations.
Jamie Hopper moved the recommendation, which the commission approved in a roll-call vote: Tim Alwine—Aye; Dann Hunt—Aye; Brad Fruth—Nay; Scarlett Graves—Aye; Fred Musselman—Aye; Jamie Hopper—Aye; Lynette Smith—Aye; Gregg Wilkinson—Aye. The commission will forward a temporary moratorium resolution to the Board of Commissioners for consideration.
Commissioners discussed legal and procedural considerations before the vote. As Mark Frantz explained during the meeting, "the longer a moratorium continues, the more likely it is that someone could come in and challenge it. Until the ordinance takes effect, there are no projects that will be permitted in the County should the Board of Commissioners adopt the moratorium." That explanation framed the commission's decision to send a temporary — not permanent — moratorium to the Board.
Chair Brad Fruth voted against the recommendation and said he believes a moratorium is unnecessary because current siting restrictions are sufficient. The recommendation will pause acceptance and processing of improvement location permits for data center-related structures in unincorporated Miami County pending adoption of a data-center ordinance.
The commission's resolution defines "data center" broadly to include server farms, cloud computing, artificial-intelligence processing, and related uses and states the moratorium remains in effect until the Zoning Ordinance is amended to regulate such projects.
