Google Data Center Rezoning Vote Late Monday
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis City-County Council will make a final vote on a $1 billion Google data center project Monday evening.
The proposal, which would rezone 468 acres of Franklin Township farmland, faces significant resistance from a bipartisan group of councilors and local residents.
17 council members have publicly stated their intent to vote against the project. This opposition is led by Republican Michael-Paul Hart, who represents the district where the data center would be built. Hart has been a vocal critic of the plan, citing concerns about its potential impact on the environment, local utilities, and the quality of life for residents.
While the majority of the council seems aligned against the project, Democrat Ron Gibson is the sole public supporter, expressing hope that some of his colleagues will change their minds before the vote.
The vote will follow a public meeting at 7 p.m. at the City-County Building, where both Google’s representatives and the “remonstrators,” a group of residents who oppose the development, will have 20 minutes each to present their arguments. The public can attend in person or watch the hearing online.
Lead remonstrator Julie Goldsberry says, “We remonstrators are cautiously optimistic that it will be voted down, but also nervous.”
Google has been meeting with council members and even offered a tour of the data center.
“That was 100% of an attempt to influence the vote,” Goldsberry said. “The other thing they did besides offering a tour, though they did not offer the tour to all of the councilors, just some, is that they also met behind closed doors with Franklin Township schools and came up with a top-secret settlement. If you are concerned about the school, why didn’t you do that a long time ago? Why did you wait until the last minute when you thought you were losing?”
