Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon said the city has received interest from developers looking for places to build data centers.
She said that prompted city council to come up with an oversight policy.
“They passed an ordinance which basically said that it's a permitted use, but it also requires approval by the board of zoning appeals,” Ferdon said.
Requiring a government body to have oversight then allows for public input.
Listen to more: Columbus Mayor Ferdon on budget hearings, reelection, data centers
Ferdon said she’s had multiple conversations with developers but no proposals.
“There's a lot of smaller data centers across the country too that provide services, and so we've had interest in all sizes,” she said.
Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute found 13 Indiana counties have adopted ordinances for data centers. Another 24 have enacted temporary moratoria on construction, while three, including Monroe County, have banned data center construction.
