ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, INDIANA · DATA CENTERS
Events of September 22, 2026
What happened: The St. Joseph County Council voted 6-3 on September 22 to pass a preliminary resolution that starts the process of banning new hyperscale data centers in the county’s unincorporated areas, WNDU’s Kennedi Humble reported. The resolution directs the Area Plan Commission to define key terms and draft zoning ordinance amendments that would prohibit new hyperscale facilities.
Claim: Supporters, led by Councilwoman Amy Drake, say the county already carries enough: Amazon Web Services’ campus in New Carlisle and Microsoft’s in Granger will total about 40 buildings between them. They cite water use, demands on the electric grid and the loss of farmland.
Check: The resolution is a first step, not a ban. Any prohibition would have to come back as zoning amendments drafted by the Area Plan Commission, and it would not affect the AWS and Microsoft projects already underway. No deadline has been reported for the commission’s work.
Concern: The three no votes crossed party lines. Republican Councilman Daniel Schaetzle called the measure redundant, arguing the council would not approve more data center rezonings anyway. Democrats Diana Hess and Mark Catanzarite also voted no; their reasons were not reported.
Outcome: The Area Plan Commission now drafts definitions and zoning changes for the council to consider.
Location Decision takeaway
St. Joseph County has gone from courting hyperscale campuses to moving to close the door behind them. For site selectors, the signal is that early host counties may not stay open to later projects, even where power and fiber are already in place. A ban written into zoning is harder to reverse than a council that simply declines rezonings.
Original reporting: Kennedi Humble, WNDU, September 23, 2026. Also covered by Juliane Balog, South Bend Tribune.
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