Decatur Township residents are asking the Marion County Superior Court to overturn the approval of a proposed $4 billion data center and block construction before it begins.
In March, the Metropolitan Development Commission approved plans from Seattle-based developer Sabey Corp. to build the 130-acre campus near Kentucky Avenue and Camby Road on the southwest side of the county.
For months before the approval, residents raised concerns about noise, energy demand, water use, lack of permanent jobs and the project's impact on home property values.
In the request for judicial review, they argue the commission broke state law by approving variances that don’t meet legal standards. The residents also said the project amounts to what they call a “disguised rezoning” because the full City-County Council did not approve it.
Sabey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Instead of seeking a full rezoning of the site — land located near residential neighborhoods — Sabey filed for a variance of use. That approach bypasses the formal rezoning process, which would allow the district’s representative from the Indianapolis City-County Council to “call down” the proposal for the full council to vote on it, regardless of what the Metropolitan Development Commission decides.
That council oversight is what ultimately derailed a data center proposed by Google for Franklin Township in September 2025.
Representatives for Sabey argued during public hearings that they worked with the community to provide commitments, including paying all energy-related costs to operate the center and helping with improvements to nearby roads. The company also won the support of groups including Central Indiana Building Trades, Central Midwest Carpenters Unions, the Indy Chamber and utility company AES Indiana.
Pat Andrews, chair of the Decatur Township Civic Council’s Land Use Committee, said in her 30 years of experience, she has never seen variances used this way.
“I use the word troubling, but there are stronger words for that,” Andrews told WFYI after a meeting about the project in December 2025.
Andrews has warned that other developers could follow a similar strategy — targeting land already zoned for industrial use and seeking variances instead of full rezoning.
In April, another developer filed a variance request to build a data center on Indianapolis’ east side. Georgia-based DC Blox is proposing a $2 billion campus near the intersection of South Kitley Avenue and the Pennsy Trail on the city’s east side
Throughout the zoning process, Andrews has also criticized current leadership, including Mayor Joe Hogsett, for not creating a specific zoning classification for data centers.
"This was deliberate to deprive us of our rights," Andrews said after the Metropolitan Development Commission’s vote in March.
Farrah Anderson is an investigative health reporter with WFYI and Side Effects Public Media. You can follow her on X at @farrahsoa or by email at fanderson@wfyi.org
