The preliminary resolution directs the Area Plan Commission to define key terms and draft zoning amendments that would prohibit new hyperscale data centers in unincorporated parts of the county. It initiates a proposal process; it does not itself impose a ban. Define key terms and draft proposed amendments

Sets new limits on low-frequency sounds emitted by industrial operations. Projects with building permits already issued are grandfathered, so the limits do not apply to Amazon’s data center; they will apply to Microsoft’s planned Granger data center. The ordinance grandfathers business projects with existing building permits.

Creates a process for people living near industrial operators to complain about low-frequency sounds they generate. A new process for people living near industrial operators to complain.

Business projects with existing building permits are grandfathered from the new low-frequency sound limits, protecting permitted data centers such as Amazon’s from those new requirements. grandfathers business projects with existing building permits

The IEC Overlay's requirements control whenever they conflict with the underlying zoning district, so a data center must satisfy the overlay's more restrictive use and development standards.

New data centers or changes in use within the overlay are subject to the overlay. A legally established nonconforming use may increase its gross floor area or impervious surface by no more than 25%.

Development must meet dimensional limits, including a minimum 100-foot lot width, maximum 75% lot coverage, minimum 20% open space, generally a 50-foot front setback, applicable 25-, 50-, or 100-foot interior, exterior, and rear setbacks, and a 60-foot maximum height unless increased setbacks are provided for additional height.

Parking access on lots abutting principal streets generally must use a single curb cut, with a second curb cut requiring County Engineer approval for lots wider than 200 feet. Parking may occupy only up to 25% of the required front and exterior building setbacks and must observe separate parking setbacks.

A data center classified as an industrial use must provide parking at one space per employee or one space per 1,500 square feet of gross floor area, whichever is less.

Parking lots must have a sealed surface, such as asphalt, paving material, or concrete, and must have photometric plans demonstrating compliance with industrial lighting standards.

Loading areas must accommodate on-site vehicle maneuvering, including reversing so vehicles can leave in forward gear, and must be screened from primary and secondary streets or use approved design features maintaining a high-quality streetscape.

Buildings visible from a public or private street must meet overlay architectural requirements, including façade articulation, scale-specific building-form features, an identifiable primary entrance with a canopy or similar shelter, and permitted exterior materials. EIFS and vinyl are prohibited.

The site must provide common open space and amenities designed to support ecological, scenic, recreational, or buffering functions. Open parking areas, driveways, designated outdoor storage, and qualifying parking islands do not count as common open space.

A Landscape Intent Plan is required with development applications, identifying existing and proposed buildings, improvements, property lines, retained and proposed vegetation, and fence or retaining-wall elevations.

Landscaping must include at least 50% Indiana-native or native-cultivar deciduous trees and at least 50% Indiana-native flowering plants; all wildflowers must be native, and plants on the Indiana Invasive Species Council's invasive-plant list are prohibited.

Except for landmark parcels and buildings, at least 10% of the lot area must be allocated to landscaping, with specified tree, shrub, groundcover, foundation-landscaping, and species-diversity requirements.

New development abutting residential areas generally requires a landscape buffer at least 25 feet wide with additional trees and shrubs. Development along the western boundary of the overlay instead requires a 50-foot-wide buffer containing at least one tree per 35 linear feet, subject to specified permanent-resource exemptions.

Mechanical equipment generally must be screened from adjacent buildings and public rights-of-way through parapets, matching screening walls, architectural elements, opaque fencing, enclosures, or landscaping; landmark parcels are exempt from this mechanical-screening requirement.

External lighting may not use beacons, searchlights, blinking lights, flashing lights, or changing-intensity lights. Lighting must be directed away from adjacent buildings and public roads, and security lighting may not project onto public roads.

Outdoor storage generally cannot be located forward of the building line unless screened, and outdoor storage areas must be delineated and screened as approved. Waste receptacles visible from primary or secondary streets require screening at least five feet high.

Stormwater management must comply with approved Drainage Board requirements and use appropriate treatment measures, such as bioretention or suitable alternatives, for stormwater quality.

Development applications must include the overlay's water-efficiency prerequisites and earn at least three sustainability points, which can require specified low-flow plumbing, dual-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads, and an enclosed recycling station for each building.

Industrial uses must comply with applicable performance standards and industrial noise-control requirements, subject only to listed exceptions for initial construction, certain expansion or renovation work between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., temporary activities, and emergency warning equipment.

Data centers are listed as a permitted-by-right use in the IEC Overlay District. A “P” use does not require further zoning review, although other applicable approvals may still be required.

The IEC Overlay standards control if they conflict with the underlying zoning district, giving data centers a specific and predictable set of applicable use and development standards.

Legally established nonconforming uses in the overlay, potentially including an existing data center, may expand gross floor area or impervious surface by up to 25 percent, notwithstanding the ordinary nonconforming-use rules.

Existing uses established before the overlay’s adoption are exempt from the overlay’s dimensional and design standards in Section 154.320.

Electrical substations or distribution centers, utility service stations, telephone exchanges and transmission equipment buildings, and certain other utility facilities are permitted by right, supporting data-center power and communications infrastructure.

Industrial uses, including data centers, must provide parking at one space per employee or one space per 1,500 square feet of gross floor area, whichever is less, which may reduce the parking requirement for large facilities compared with a stricter floor-area-based standard.

Development applications can earn sustainability points and, after earning at least three points, qualify for one incentive; four to six points qualify for two, seven to nine for three, and ten points for all four incentives. Available incentives include up to 10 additional feet or one story of height, a 15 percent parking reduction, a 10 percent increase in sign area or height, and a 10 percent reduction in required landscaping.

Stormwater-management areas, including retention or detention ponds and bioretention areas, may count as common open-space amenities when designed with qualifying pedestrian, landscaping, slope, fountain, circulation, or similar features, potentially helping large data-center sites satisfy open-space requirements.