Developers eyeing Merrillville as a potential spot for a data center will now have to wait a little longer to approach the Town Council.
The council at its July 14 meeting voted unanimously to extend by six months its moratorium on approving any data center projects. The new end time will be noon on January 1, 2028, when the new council takes office.
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“A couple months back, we had a lot of controversy about data centers, and when I made the motion (to put a moratorium on them), I made it for one year. I would like to extend that, Mr. President, with your support, to be our term of office, which is December 31, and six months on to that moratorium,” Councilman Shawn Pettit, D-6, said to audience applause at the end of the meeting.
After hosting the first of two public informational meetings about a project it’s considering last week, the Merrillville Town Council at its May 26 meeting voted unanimously to impose a one-year moratorium on approving any data center projects in town. The original date for the moratorium was set for June 1 through May 31, 2027, the Post-Tribune previously reported.
Merrillville joined several other government entities in pumping the brakes on data centers. The Citizens Action Coalition announced in May that it and 26 other public interest organizations across Indiana are calling on local governments to enact data center moratoriums on new data center development, permitting and construction to allow local governments more time to adopt policies and regulations to protect Hoosiers, the Post-Tribune reported.
Thirteen Indiana counties have enacted data center moratoriums, including Fulton, Marshall and Starke counties. The Valparaiso City Council on July 15 also voted 6 to 1 on first reading to amend a proposed ordinance for a moratorium on data centers to remove the original two-year end date; it also voted unanimously to direct its Plan Commission to hold a public hearing on the matter and issue a recommendation, the Post-Tribune reported.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.