Blackford County looking into paying $19,780 for a data center ordinance; APC hasn't met in months

At the September 8 Blackford County Commissioners meeting, Blackford County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Warren Brown presented a proposal from HWC Engineering, an Indianapolis-based firm, to draft a data center ordinance for the county. The cost is $19,780.

The Blackford County Area Plan Commission (APC), the body that ordinarily drafts and recommends zoning ordinances, has not met since February 3, with most of its scheduled meetings being cancelled or marked "NO MEETING" on the county calendar. Additionally, the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) has not met since March 17, but a BZA meeting is on the calendar for September 15.

What was proposed

Brown told the Commissioners the HWC proposal would produce a draft ordinance, not a finished one.

"What we're looking to do is to create a draft of an ordinance for data centers," Brown said. "Obviously, we can't do an ordinance for that. It would have to go through all the proper steps with the APC."

He described a process in which HWC would work with the Commissioners, hold public meetings to gather input, and then compile that input into a draft the Commissioners could submit to the APC.

"There's a lot of activity in Indiana right now," Brown said. "I know there's a lot of kickback against them. I'm not up here asking you to be for or against them, but what I am saying is that I believe not having an ordinance leaves you open to where you don't have the appropriate documentation to protect Blackford County and to drive that yourselves."

Brown also brought up an important policy development at the state level.

There is some talk at a state level that data centers could soon be considered a utility. In which case, I think it would be better to have an ordinance in place than not to have an ordinance in place.

Commissioner Dan Borgenheimer raised the cost. "I see the cost one is 19,780," he said.

Brown said the figure included the public meetings and recommended keeping them. "There is a cost in there if you don't want to do that, but I don't recommend that. I recommend that we hold public meetings."

Commissioner President John Lancaster supported moving forward. "I think it's a great idea," Lancaster said.

The opportunity to get everybody's input and put together something that the county can work with is better than nothing at all.

Borgenheimer noted that HWC would bring experience from other counties. "As we see, [they] will bring to the party probably all the expectations that other counties now are asking," he said.

The Commissioners did not vote on the proposal at the meeting.

Brown's underlying concern is real

The substance of Brown's argument is not in dispute. Blackford County does not currently have an ordinance governing data centers. If a data center developer approached the county tomorrow, the county would be working from zoning provisions that were not written with data centers in mind.

Data center development has accelerated across Indiana. Kokomo's Common Council approved the first reading of a data center standards ordinance in late August. Madison County is currently updating its unified development ordinance with data center provisions in mind. Counties across the state are moving to establish rules before projects arrive rather than after.

Blackford County has already experienced what it looks like to approve large projects under provisions that weren't designed for them. The Ledger has previously reported that the county's most recent wind project incorporated modified zoning provisions through an exhibit to a private economic development agreement rather than through the standard ordinance amendment process.

Having rules in place before a project arrives is better than negotiating them afterward. On that point, Brown is correct.

The question is who writes them

Under Indiana law, county zoning ordinances are developed through the Area Plan Commission. The APC is made up of residents of the county, appointed to represent local interests, who bring an understanding of what their neighbors want from development in their community. The APC drafts, holds hearings, and recommends. The Commissioners adopt.

That process exists for a reason. The people who live under a zoning ordinance have the most direct interest in what it says.

Blackford County's APC has not met since February 3. Three scheduled meetings have been cancelled or marked as no meeting in the seven months since.

During that same period, the county has been operating without an adopted revision to its wind energy ordinance. A draft revision has been under review. Brown told the Ledger in July that it had been presented to Hartford City, was not adopted, and had been sitting with the APC awaiting attorney review. Planning and Zoning Executive Director Samantha Dick told the Ledger, also in July, that the APC was waiting on legal review to proceed.

The APC has not convened to take it up, and it's uncertain where the current ordinance amendments sit.

What $19,780 buys

The HWC proposal would produce a first draft, gathered from public input and informed by the firm's work with other Indiana communities. HWC has substantial experience in this area. The firm drafted Boone County's energy overlay ordinance, which Boone County adopted after enacting a temporary moratorium on large-scale renewable energy projects. HWC's own materials describe that ordinance as having been called a "gold standard" by the community during adoption meetings.

HWC has also drafted or updated ordinances for Bargersville, Whitestown, Avon, Lawrenceburg, Lebanon, Tipton, Putnam County, Madison County, and others. Bryan Stumpf, HWC's community development studio lead, presented Kokomo's data center ordinance to that city's council in August.

HWC also works for data center developers. The firm's portfolio includes the Hammond Data Center, where HWC provides civil engineering support to Digital Crossroad, the project's developer, including concept planning, utility design, survey work, and master planning. HWC describes itself in that project as "a bridge for communication between the clients (Digital Crossroad) and the City of Hammond."

Nothing about that arrangement is improper, and it's rather typical of companies that do this work. Engineering firms serve both public and private clients, and the work HWC does for Indiana communities is well regarded.

But it is worth noting that a firm proposed to write Blackford County's rules for data centers also helps builds them.

The alternative

There are now dozens of data center ordinances adopted or in progress across Indiana. Boone County's energy overlay is public. Kokomo's data center standards are public. Madison County's provisions are being developed in public. Every ordinance adopted by an Indiana local government is a public document available to any other Indiana local government.

An Area Plan Commission that convened, reviewed what other counties have adopted, and produced a first draft reflecting Blackford's specific priorities would cost the county the time of its members and staff. Legal review of that draft would cost something. It would not likely cost $19,780.

Whether the APC can do that work is a fair question. Whether it has been asked to is a different one.

What comes next

The Commissioners took no vote on the HWC proposal on September 8. Lancaster indicated the APC would be kept in the loop.

The Ledger has asked members of the Area Plan Commission and the Blackford County Planning and Zoning office why the three APC meetings since February were cancelled, what the current status is of the wind ordinance revision, and whether APC members were consulted about the HWC proposal.