Huntingburg Plan Commission sets hearings on new data center, battery storage rules

Huntingburg — Battery energy storage systems (BESS) and data centers would be allowed in Huntingburg’s zoning jurisdiction only with a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals under rules the Huntingburg Plan Commission began moving forward Monday.

The proposal would amend the city’s Unified Development Ordinance, which does not define either use now. That gap means if a developer proposed one, Planning Commissioner Paul Lake or the commission would have to make an administrative call on which existing use it most resembles.

“Trying to fit it into a cubbyhole that already exists may not be easy,” Lake told the planning commission.

No developer has approached the city about either use within its extraterritorial jurisdiction, Mayor Neil Elkins said. The goal is to stay ahead of the curve and have clear standards so future decisions to approve or deny a project are not arbitrary or emotional.

The AES commercial solar project that included a BESS started the conversation. The BESS is a major part of the opposition to the AES solar project, he said, and battery units are also a big part of data centers around the country.

Under the plan Lake said he and the mayor developed, battery storage would be its own category, separate from data centers or solar. It would be allowed by special exception only, in the agricultural and heavy industrial zoning districts.

Lake said splitting them out keeps battery units from riding along with a larger project. Speaking as what he called a “cynical land use planner,” he said a developer who wins approval for a solar farm or data center could add battery units if those units are not reviewed on their own. A separate category lets the city judge them as a standalone project, he said. Battery units also do not have to sit on the same land as the project they serve.

The detailed rules would go in Chapter Four of the ordinance, use development standards, which already cover commercial solar and wireless facilities. Requirements would include setbacks, buffering, height limits, lighting, decibel levels and fencing as well as features to the protect the land from leaching or other contaminants.

The definitions would likely set size thresholds by square footage or acreage, Lake said.

Some businesses in the city or county may already use battery storage on a small scale, and the city does not want new rules to force anyone “to take a step back,” he said.

Data centers are not new developments. Banks, hospitals and factories have run smaller ones for 20-plus years. What has changed in the last three to five years is the scale, with projects covering 100, 200 or 500 acres, Lake said.

Commission member Larry Fuesler said the information shared so far points to three community concerns: appearance, noise and utility consumption. He asked whether standards for data centers and battery storage would have to apply to other businesses.

City Attorney Phil Schneider said each use can have its own standards. Meeting those standards would not guarantee approval, he said. The Board of Zoning Appeals would still have to make six findings after a public hearing with notice to neighboring property owners:

• The use will not endanger public health, safety, morals or general welfare.
• It will not harm the use and enjoyment of nearby property.
• It will not substantially block or change orderly development of surrounding property.
• Adequate utilities, access roads, drainage and other facilities exist or will be provided.
• Entrances and exits are designed to limit traffic congestion.
• It sits in a district where the use is permitted.

If any one finding is negative, the exception fails. “It’s an all-or-nothing approach,” Lake added.

The commission voted to open a public hearing on the amendments at its Oct. 26 meeting and continue it to its Nov. 23 meeting, when testimony will close.

The commission will present the specific proposed language of the UDO changes during those meetings, though it may change as it takes public comment. After the hearings, the commission will send a recommendation to the Huntingburg Common Council. The council can adopt the amendments as an ordinance or reject them and send them back to the commission for more work.