Morgan County hopes to rezone more land for proposed data center

By: Taj Simmons

MONROVIA — The small Morgan County town of Monrovia is now at the center of a big debate about data centers in Indiana.

The Morgan County Plan Commission is holding a public hearing Monday night to discuss rezoning 158 acres of agricultural land along State Road 42 east of Monrovia for usage as a data center. The county previously rezoned more than 300 acres of that property for the project earlier this year.

"It's going to be considerably more money coming into the county," said Morgan County Commissioner Kenny Hale, who represents Monrovia and its township. "What we get for agriculture versus this is going to be pretty substantial. I know it's going to help the township out, the fire department out, and the schools out."

However, signs in opposition to the data center popped up all across Morgan County in the weeks before the public hearing.

"If we don't succeed at stopping the data center, we are going to be on them all the time," said Janice Bacon, who lives in Monrovia and opposes the data center.

"We are allowed to protect our communities from big tech coming in and taking our resources," said Christopher Lamberson, who also lives in Monrovia and created the Protect Morgan County effort against the data center.

Hale believes the data center project is a golden opportunity for Morgan County to provide a needed piece of America's tech infrastructure.

"I've been very pro-data center since the early 2000s," Hale said. "We're getting so dependent on our cellphones and our laptops and AI. That's all driving these data centers."

However, the people who do not want it in their community say the money is not worth destroying a prime piece of farmland.

"I have a long laundry list of questions which I have not had answered yet," said Chris Green, who has lived in Monrovia for more than 30 years. "It includes everything from water usage to power usage to noise levels."

"We are up against a big tech company, but a community like this has the power to make some difference here," Lamberson said.

The Morgan County Plan Commission's public hearing about the data center rezoning is on Monday at 6:30 p.m. inside the Morgan County Administration Building.