City-county councilors voted overwhelmingly in favor of a temporary pause on any new data centers.

The council voted 23-1 at its Aug. 10 meeting to prevent tech companies from building any new data centers through the end of 2027. 

The moratorium will give councilors more time to fine-tune the city’s plan for regulating them, said Council President Maggie Lewis, a westside Democrat. The proposed regulations would place restrictions on sound levels and require developers to submit plans for water management and electrical capacity, but critics at this point say they fail to address health and environmental concerns.

But the measure won’t stop three data centers that have already gained city approval:

• Metrobloks, which is building a $500 million data center in Martindale Brightwood. The Los Angeles-based company is currently negotiating with city officials on tax breaks for the project.
• Sabey Data Centers, which is constructing a data center campus in Decatur Township that will span roughly 18 football fields
• DC Blox, which is building a $2 billion campus on the site of a former Ford plant near Irvington

All three projects were approved by the Metropolitan Development Commission, a 9-member board responsible for approving changes in zoning regulations, despite intense pushback from community residents. 

The development commission also would need to approve the moratorium. Mayor Joe Hogsett, who appoints five of the nine members to that commission, has said he supports the moratorium.

Councilor Michael-Paul Hart, a Republican who represents the southeast side, voted against the moratorium. He said he would prefer to see clear development guidelines.

“If we had development standards in place, you could always pick a more restrictive set of commitments,” Hart said, referring to pledges that developers agree to in order to garner community support.

The development commission is expected to vote on the proposal at its Aug. 19 meeting. 

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Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.

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Indy councilors hit pause button on data centers

by Peter Blanchard, Mirror Indy
August 10, 2026

<h1>Indy councilors hit pause button on data centers</h1> <p class="byline">by Peter Blanchard, Mirror Indy <br />August 10, 2026</p> <p>City-county councilors voted overwhelmingly in favor of a temporary pause on any new data centers.</p> <p>The council voted 23-1 at its Aug. 10 meeting to prevent tech companies from building any new data centers through the end of 2027.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <a href="https://mirrorindy.org/indianapolis-data-center-moratorium-city-county-council-joe-hogsett-support/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">moratorium</a> will give councilors more time to fine-tune <a href="https://mirrorindy.org/indianapolis-data-centers-regulations-moratorium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the city’s plan for regulating them</a>, said Council President Maggie Lewis, a westside Democrat. The proposed regulations would place restrictions on sound levels and require developers to submit plans for water management and electrical capacity, but critics at this point say they fail to address <a href="https://mirrorindy.org/data-center-health-pollution-environment-impacts-indianapolis-marion-county/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">health and environmental concerns</a>.</p> <p>But the measure won’t stop three data centers that have already gained city approval:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><a href="https://mirrorindy.org/martindale-brightwood-metrobloks-data-center-east-indianapolis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Metrobloks</a>, which is building a $500 million data center in Martindale Brightwood. The Los Angeles-based company is currently negotiating with city officials on tax breaks for the project.</li> <li><a href="https://mirrorindy.org/sabey-data-centers-decatur-downship-indianapolis-john-dillon-josh-bain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sabey Data Centers</a>, which is constructing a data center campus in Decatur Township that will span roughly 18 football fields</li> <li><a href="https://mirrorindy.org/dc-blox-data-center-irvington-east-side-indianapolis-metropolitan-development-commission/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DC Blox</a>, which is building a $2 billion campus on the site of a former Ford plant near Irvington</li> </ul> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/20260810_CITY-COUNTY-COUNCIL-MEETING_BP_01.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-87573" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jeanne Gaunt watches the City-County Council meeting Aug. 10, 2026, from an overflow room at the City-County Building in Indianapolis. She is wearing a crown that reads, “for moratorium.” “Patient pays off,” Gaunt said in response to the councilors' vote in favor of a halt on approval of new data centers through 2027.</figcaption></figure> <p>All three projects were approved by the Metropolitan Development Commission, a 9-member board responsible for approving changes in zoning regulations, despite intense pushback from community residents.&nbsp;</p> <p>The development commission also would need to approve the moratorium. Mayor Joe Hogsett, who appoints five of the nine members to that commission, has said he supports the moratorium.</p> <p>Councilor Michael-Paul Hart, a Republican who represents the southeast side, voted against the moratorium. He said he would prefer to see clear development guidelines.</p> <p>“If we had development standards in place, you could always pick a more restrictive set of commitments,” Hart said, referring to pledges that developers agree to in order to garner community support.</p> <p>The development commission is expected to vote on the proposal at its Aug. 19 meeting.&nbsp;</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/indianapolis-city-county-council-data-center-moratorium-approval/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org&quot;&gt;Mirror Indy&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-Mirror-Indy-square-logo-1.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=87558&amp;amp;ga4=G-X0R0QW371R&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://mirrorindy.org/indianapolis-city-county-council-data-center-moratorium-approval/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/mirrorindy.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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