A first look at proposed data center regulations for Tippecanoe County
A year after stopgap measures went into place, county looks at new restrictions on data centers. Plus, accused kidnapper arrested five hours after baby went missing. Beckwith’s swipe at Purdue. More.
A year after installing a stopgap measure into the county’s zoning code meant to temporarily put large-scale data center development in check, Tippecanoe County planners this week rolled out a proposal that wouldn’t ban massive warehouses of computer servers but would add a series of conditions companies would need to meet to build in and around Greater Lafayette.
That would include restrictions that would keep them at least 20 miles away from any other large data center.
The county’s current zoning code definition for data centers is set to expire in November, including a part that restricts large data center development to a single, rarely used I2/industrial designation, according to a memo from Amanda Esposito, Area Plan Commission’s assistant director.
The proposed zoning codes released this week have been in the works since the stopgap measure was approved in 2025, along with a one-year sunset provision.
According to a July report by WFYI, Tippecanoe County is among nearly a third of Indiana’s counties that have passed their own restrictions or moratoriums on data centers as public skepticism grows over the amount of energy and water the facilities’ rows of computer networks require. Data center proposals have sparked protest at local government meetings across the state in the past year.
According to a report by Citizens Action Coalition, a nonprofit watchdog organization, roughly 60 large, hyperscale data centers have been proposed in Indiana over the past two years as the AI market grows. Citizens Action Coalition called them some of the most energy-intensive facilities in the world and highlighted indications from the utility providers in Indiana “that they will need enormous amounts of power to serve these prospective data centers.” The report included a forecast from I&M, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, “that just a handful of AI data centers coming to Northern Indiana will use more electricity by 2030 than all 6.8 million Hoosiers use in their homes today.” The nonprofit organization predicted that would lead to higher energy bills for all customers.
The county’s Area Plan Commission Ordinance Committee is scheduled to get its first look at the new proposed regulations Wednesday, Aug. 5. If approved there, the zoning code changes would need to go to the full Area Plan Commission for a recommendation and then to the Tippecanoe County commissioners and city councils for final votes.
Expect more context as this rolls out, but among the highlights from the proposal posted with the Area Plan Commission’s Ordinance Committee’s meeting agenda for next week:
Data center definitions: The code would differentiate between a “data center” and a “large data center.”
The smaller version would include those that had gross floor area of 20,000 square feet or less and used less than 2 megawatts of energy. In the 2025 code, the county made room for smaller, less-intensive data centers, including ones already operated by local internet providers and firms providing internal data security for banks and other businesses. Those would be allowed to go into the commercial and industrial zones already in the county’s codes. The new proposal bumps up the size to quality as a smaller data center from a current 10,000-square-foot limit.
A “large data center” would be anything bigger than 20,000 square feet and using more than 2 megawatts of power, including “hyperscale” projects being proposed and built by Meta, Google, Microsoft and others. According to the proposed updated code, large data centers would continue to be restricted to the county’s I2/industrial classification. That was an intentional hurdle specified in the 2025 version, given that so little land is already zoned I2 in Tippecanoe County. That, planners said at the time, would force a developer to go through a minimum of three public hearings – one before the APC for a recommendation; a second with the county, a city or town board for a final approval; followed by a review by the Board of Zoning Appeals for special zoning exceptions required for large data centers – to get the proper zoning before construction could start.
Other requirements: Large data centers would face a host of expectations, even before getting to necessary votes, according to the new proposal.
Among them:
New large data centers would need to be separated by at least 20 miles from any other large data center. (Tippecanoe County is roughly 21 miles wide and 24 miles tall.)
Large data center applications would need to include projections for energy usage and water consumption.
At least 80% of the energy consumed on a large data center site would have to come from renewable sources, such as wind or solar power.
Large data centers would have to use a closed-loop cooling system, which would cut back on the amount of water they’d require.
Developers would be required to host a public information session before submitting a special zoning exception application to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Those would have to include public notifications of nearby landowners and the news media.
The maximum allowed noise level outside a large data center would 45 decibels.
Large data center projects would require a decommissioning plan, similar to ones required for gas stations, car washes and oil change businesses in Lafayette and West Lafayette. According to the proposal, that would include removing all buildings, equipment and signage on the property.
What’s next: The data center regulations proposal will go to the Area Plan Commission’s Ordinance Committee at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette.
For more
TIP FROM A BUS RIDER HELPS THWART SUSPECTED KIDNAPPING IN WEST LAFAYETTE
West Lafayette police, working from a tip from a bus rider, were able track a 22-year-old woman accused of taking a six-month-old girl Thursday evening, leading to her arrest and the recovery of the infant in Louisville, Kentucky, that night, police reported.
Jasmine O’Sullivan, 22, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was arrested by police in Louisville, who were able to reach her on the bus. Police reported Friday that O’Sullivan was arrested without incident and that the infant, identified by West Lafayette Police as Baby Adalyn, was reunited with her family five hours after she was reported missing.
“This successful outcome was made possible because an observant citizen recognized the child after seeing our social media posts and immediately contacted the West Lafayette Police Department,” West Lafayette Police Chief Adam Ferguson said in a social media post Friday. “Within moments, WLPD investigators, working alongside the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, coordinated efforts that led to the bus being intercepted and the child being found safely.”
Police say they received a report of the suspected kidnapping at 5:47 p.m. Thursday. According the police account, O’Sullivan was suspected of using someone else’s identity “to gain the mother’s trust and facilitate the kidnapping.” Police said the woman who identity was used was not suspected of being involved. In WLPD posts Thursday, police said detectives determined that the suspect likely had left the Country Villa Apartments in West Lafayette at approximately 4:30 p.m. in a gray SUV.
Police said the investigation continued for local and federal agencies.
THIS AND THAT …
BECKWITH’S OUTBURST ABOUT PURDUE, STATE’S ‘WOKE’ CAMPUSES: Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith took a swipe at Purdue Thursday, relaying a comment he said he relayed from a parent who was offended by a campus tour led by a student who mentioned belonging to the Muslim Student Association and who referenced a campus landmark known as “the Diversity Tree” – a spot traditionally painted by Greek organizations during the school year. The “potential Purdue University parent” also took issue with a university video that touted the campus’ LGBTQ Center. His upshot: “Why are state schools in Indiana the worst?? Do yourself a favor, send your kids to Hillsdale College where woke indoctrination won’t happen.” Hillsdale College is a private Christian liberal arts college in his hometown in Hillsdale, Michigan.
Here’s what he wrote.
Cherise Hall, Purdue’s vice provost for enrollment management, said in a statement issued by the university: “The statement attributed to the student tour guide is not a part of any standard script, but rather reflect a positive personal experience the student had on campus with the MSA.”
Purdue officials didn’t touch other aspects of the lieutenant governor’s statement, including about the university’s LGBTQ Center or the implication that the Muslim Student Association was at the center of “violence and hate on campuses everywhere.”
Beckwith has been calling out Islam in recent months, calling the religion evil at saying he’d “100% want to ban mosques in America from blaring the Muslim call to prayer through loudspeakers 5 times a day across our cities.”
PURDUE’S BACK ON TIKTOK: Three years after Purdue ditched its TikTok accounts and restricted access on campus WiFi networks – a February 2023 decision “prompted by concerns about cybersecurity risks to user data privacy, algorithmic censorship of free speech and threats to national security” – the university hopped back into the social media platform this week.
In a note delivered to those who deal with university branding, the Purdue Brand Studio announced that it had re-launched a feed at @purdueuniversity.
“Purdue University will begin a phased return to TikTok to re-establish our presence on a platform we know prospective and current students increasingly use to discover information,” the announcement read. “Following significant changes to TikTok’s U.S. operations and data governance, including the transition to U.S.-based servers under government oversight, Purdue leadership is confident TikTok’s risk profile has shifted.”
OTHER READS …
As the recount continues in Indiana Senate District 23 – see this out of Indianapolis this week: “Recount Commission rejects Copenhaver’s demand to subpoena voters” – another related shoe dropped Friday in developments revolving around President Donald Trump’s attempt to get Indiana to join in mid-decade redistricting. Sen. Rod Bray, a Martinsville Republican who faced the wrath of Trump and his allies when the Indiana Senate declined to go along, said Friday he won’t seek to re-elected state Senate leader going into the 2027 General Assembly session. From an account from Marissa Meador at the Indianapolis Star: “It’s a departure from Bray’s previous statements about his plans to stay in leadership. In a statement, a spokesperson for Bray attributed the decision to Bray’s duty to protect his fellow senators from further political retribution.” (Sen. Spencer Deery, a West Lafayette Republican currently holding a three-vote margin in Senate District 23, was among seven targeted by millions in dark money spent during the May primary for his stance against the redistricting plan.) It was an announcement that prompted Trump to roast Bray on social media again as a “fool.” Here’s more from Meador: “Sen. Bray won’t seek re-election to leadership amid fallout from Trump’s redistricting push.”
Gov. Mike Braun said this week he plans to deploy more help to the Indiana Public Access Counselor’s office after an Indianapolis Star investigation confirmed rumblings that the agency was falling behind on dealing with public requests to weigh in on questions about public records and public meetings complaints. The move also followed pressure from a media coalition to get to the reasons why. Indiana Capital Chronicle editor Niki Kelly had this: “Governor diverts staff to address public access counselor office backlog.” Starting it all, Indianapolis Star reporters Cate Charron and Grace Randolph analyzed the performance by Jennifer Ruby, Gov. Mike Braun’s appointee: “During her 16-month tenure, her office took an average of nearly 250 days, or about eight months, to issue an opinion, a first-of-its-kind IndyStar analysis found. That is far outside the public access law’s requirement and more than three times longer than that of her predecessor, Luke Britt, during his final two years in office. Ruby is also far more likely to favor the government when it denies access to citizens. The analysis, which examined published opinions, found that Ruby favored the government two-thirds of the time. Britt was the exact inverse. He found in two-thirds of the cases that the government violated state law or could act differently to improve transparency.” Read it all here: “Under Braun’s watchdog, government secrecy grows harder to challenge.”
IndyStar reporter Nathan Baird had a fun look at some likely, Purdue-centric candidates if the Boilermakers join the trend of adding sponsor logos to basketball and football uniforms. As Baird wrote, “Purdue athletics is in active negotiations with multiple potential partners for jersey patch and playing surface sponsorships. Some could begin showing up as early as this fall.” Wisconsin has home-based Culver’s. Baird’s speculation ranges from Orville Redenbacher popcorn (a famous alum) to NASA (Cradle of Astronauts) to the state ties to Eli Lilly and Company. Read it here: “Purdue basketball, football seeking jersey patch sponsors. Who makes sense?”
With simmering questions, whether on social media or during public comment times at the Lafayette City Council, about local contracts with Flock Safety for license plate scanning and traffic monitoring cameras, here’s one out of Bloomington. The Monroe County commissioners last week reeled in its contract with Flock Safety, saying that, despite liking the crime investigation capabilities of the cameras, they’d grown uncomfortable with the privacy concerns raised by the technology. Here’s more from WFIU reporter George Hale: “Monroe County cancels contract with Flock Safety.”
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.