New Albany Plan Commission Meeting on Data Center Moratorium - June 23, 2026
New Albany City Plan Commission Special Meeting – June 23, 2026
The New Albany City Plan Commission held a special meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at 10:30 AM to consider a proposed one-year moratorium on the construction of data centers. The commission voted unanimously to recommend the moratorium ordinance to the City Council, which will hold readings on July 6 and July 16, 2026. During the meeting, staff outlined the need for temporary pause to develop comprehensive zoning standards for data centers, including AI and hyperscale facilities, which were not contemplated in the 2019 zoning code. Public comment included both support for a cautious approach and concerns about health, environmental, and infrastructure impacts.
Consent Calendar
- The commission approved the minutes from the April 21, 2026 meeting and the May 19, 2026 meeting without objection.
Public Comments & Testimony
- David McCoen (Bueller Street, New Albany) spoke from 19 years of experience working in a data center the size of a city block. He emphasized the importance of regulating data centers to shift burdens onto corporations rather than citizens.
- Karen Schmidt (Spring Street) expressed support for the moratorium and urged the commission to gather feedback from communities that already host data centers about pros and cons. She also asked for public criteria to be shared before decisions are made.
- Holly Merriweather (Floyd Knobbs) cited anonymous reports from a friend who helped build a data center, and presented claims about negative health effects (e.g., children’s bone density, reproductive issues, dead fish) within a six-mile radius. She pleaded for a lengthy hold (one to five years) to assess impacts.
- Harry Quinn (68 Main Street, New Albany) stated that existing evidence shows data centers are dangerous for health and increase energy costs without community benefit, and opposed their construction.
Discussion Items
- Staff Overview: The Plan Commission director explained that the proposed moratorium would last one year to allow staff to research and draft zoning code amendments for data centers. He noted that no data center proposals are currently pending, though a site search firm had inquired about the old Gallagher generating station (rejected due to floodway). The director outlined future considerations: defining data centers, permitted districts, permitting processes, battery energy storage systems (BESS), development standards (setbacks, buffering, environmental standards), public benefit agreements (e.g., low-cost Wi-Fi), and decommissioning requirements.
- Commissioner Questions:
- Jacob Arbital asked whether, without the moratorium, a clever applicant could circumvent zoning by seeking a use variance. The director confirmed that a use variance would require a public hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals, but uniformity in regulation is a concern.
- David Abersold suggested limiting the moratorium to "AI data centers" only, arguing traditional data centers are different. Other commissioners disagreed, noting that even small data centers can have cumulative impacts (e.g., noise, vibration). The director clarified that the broad term "data centers" would allow more comprehensive regulation.
- A commissioner asked about coordination with the county. The director replied that the city only has jurisdiction within its limits and two-mile fringe area; the county has its own plan commission.
- David Abersold later reiterated concerns about AI data centers being specialized factories with different power/cooling and potential military targeting, but the commission agreed to proceed with the broader term and flesh out differences during the ordinance drafting.
- Public Benefit: The director noted that data centers can provide low-cost or free Wi-Fi, and the ordinance could require such community benefits.
Key Outcomes
- Motion and Vote: Commissioner made a motion for a favorable recommendation of Docket A02-26 (the moratorium ordinance) to the City Council. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously with no opposed votes or abstentions.
- Next Steps: The recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council, which will have second reading on Monday, July 6, 2026 at 7:00 PM and third/final reading on Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 7:00 PM, both in the same chambers. If adopted, the ordinance will take effect upon the mayor’s signature. The Plan Commission will develop detailed zoning amendments for data centers, targeting August 2026 for a public hearing.
- Meeting Adjourned after approval of minutes and motion to adjourn.
Meeting Transcript
We'll call a special meeting of the New Albany City Plan Commission to order for Tuesday, June the 23rd. We'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge to leave it. And we'll add Rocco. Bob Norwood. Haley James. David Abersold. Jacob Arbital. Matt Bazell. Jeff Cummins. Here. Sam Charbonov. Greg Hendersaz. Yeah. Eric Merton. Greg Phipps. Larry Summers. Here. Mr. President, we have 10 members present. It will require a minimum of six members to carry any motion. Tonight's meeting is being streamed, and an archive of the meeting will be available in a couple of days at uh City New Albany City Hall.com. All right. Okay. This evening we have one docket for public hearing, which is Docket A02 26. New Albany City Plan Commission on its own motion proposes an ordinance to adopt a one-year moratorium on the construction of data centers in the City of New Albany in the unincorporated two mound fringe area, in which New Albany, the New Albany City Plan Commission has jurisdiction. The Plan Commission will recommend regular regulations for setting and development standards applicable to data centers to incorporate in an amendment to the New Albany zoning ordinance. A copy of the proposed moratorium ordinance is available for review from the Office of the New Albany City Plan Commission 142 East Main Street, Suite 200, New Albany, Indiana. All right. And will you want to give a brief overview? Sure. For the benefit of the audience tonight, the Plan Commission is being asked to make a recommendation to the City Council on the adoption of a one-year moratorium on the development of data centers in the city and fridge area until amendments of the zoning code can be adopted by the city council. We think we should be able to put together some standards for that probably in August of this year and present those to the plan commission for review at that time. The reason is the current zoning ordinance was adopted in 2019 and has had two minor amendments in the interim. Artificial intelligence or AI and data centers were not really contemplated as a land use in New Albany at that time or until very recently. Tonight, the plan commission will hear from the public, uh pro and con and somewhere in between, probably, on the topic of this resolution. The ordinance will then move to the city council with whatever the plan commission's recommendation is. Yesterday, the council's annexation and development committee conducted a public meeting on the ordinance and reported favorably on it. The council is then scheduled for second reading on Monday, July 6th at 7 p.m. And for third and final reading on Thursday, July 16th at 7 p.m. Council meets in these uh chambers that we're presently in. If the council adopts the ordinance, it'll go into effect with mayor's signature. Uh what we are not doing tonight is developing the ordinance that would regulate data centers. Uh that's uh something my staff and I uh begun researching, uh but we're not in a position at this point in time to present that to the to the uh plan commission and ultimately to the city council. The same process will be followed for uh adoption of uh zoning code amendment when we get to that point in time. Uh it'd be a public hearing by the planning commission duly advertised. Uh the plan commission would make a recommendation, and the city council will then provide three readings of the draft ordinance. Uh some things that we will be considering uh when we get to that point with data centers would be uh what is a data center to define the use and the types of uses and uh those associated issues. We'll consider what districts they should be permitted in and what districts they should be prohibited from. We'll consider how we would go about permitting a data center in a district where they are permitted.
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