Kathy Burton, president of the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations, alerted members to a zoning case in Franklin Township seeking permission for a large data center and urged neighbors to follow developments ahead of a June hearing.

Burton said state policy and recent legislation have encouraged data-center development and that multiple large facilities have been proposed in Indiana communities. "There are a lot of small data centers that operate in Indianapolis that people probably don't even realize that are there," Burton said, and the proposed "hyperscale" centers would occupy tens of thousands to millions of square feet.

Residents raised concerns about environmental impacts, water and electrical infrastructure stress, and the potential for tax breaks given at the state level. An attendee described a past instance in northern Indiana in which an operator agreed to cover 80% of required electrical upgrades; that example was offered as an argument for insisting on operator-funded infrastructure improvements rather than passing costs to ratepayers. "There have been a couple of instances ... the operator would have agreed to pay 80% of the cost of upgrading the electrical infrastructure," the attendee said.

Meeting participants noted that large data centers can demand substantial power and require significant acreage; they said the short-term tax incentives available under state programs raise questions about net community benefit. Burton said a zoning hearing is scheduled in June for a Franklin Township proposal and encouraged neighbors to monitor the case and attend the hearing.

No formal action or vote was taken at the meeting. Attendees advised neighbors to seek details from township and county staff about utility impact studies, tax-incentive agreements, and public-benefit commitments if a proposal moves forward.