Zoning in Boone County, Indiana: The LEAP District, a Data Center Moratorium, and a New Energy Overlay Ordinance

The trigger: a 9,000-to-10,000-acre state tech district northwest of Lebanon

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation's LEAP (Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace) Research and Innovation District is a large-scale high-tech and life-sciences development zone northwest of Lebanon -- reported at roughly 9,000 acres in the county's own framing and up to 10,000 acres in some IEDC-focused reporting, a range this research pass could not resolve to a single audited figure. Modeled explicitly on North Carolina's Research Triangle, LEAP has drawn major data-center and industrial investment into what had been a fairly ordinary fast-growing Indianapolis exurb, and it's the direct cause of every zoning action described on this page.

Lebanon's annexation, and a landowner lawsuit challenging it

In December, the Lebanon City Council approved creation of a LEAP zoning district together with a voluntary annexation request covering roughly 5,200 acres, submitted jointly by 43 Boone County landowners and the IEDC. Eleven Boone County property owners subsequently filed a complaint for judicial relief in Boone County Circuit Court, asking a judge to throw out the two city ordinances. Their argument, per Indianapolis Business Journal and Indiana Lawyer reporting: the annexed land wasn't included in Lebanon's 2020 comprehensive plan, and the city didn't follow its own zoning ordinance's requirement that an annexation petition seeking anything other than single-family residential zoning include a concept plan. This research pass could not confirm how or whether that lawsuit has been resolved -- treat it as a live, documented dispute rather than settled either way.

For a buyer, the practical implication is that a parcel's zoning jurisdiction near the LEAP district's footprint may have changed recently, or may be actively contested even where an annexation has technically taken effect. Don't assume a parcel's zoning authority based on an older plat or listing description near this area -- confirm current jurisdiction (Boone County's Area Plan Commission versus the City of Lebanon's own planning department) and the status of any pending legal challenge directly.

The county's own response: a data center moratorium

Separately from Lebanon's annexation activity, the Boone County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on June 15 to impose a one-year moratorium on new data-center development in the county while it drafts permanent zoning regulations to govern the use. That vote followed the Boone County Area Plan Commission's own unanimous 6-0 recommendation on May 6, which the APC reaffirmed by another 6-0 vote after a public hearing on June 3. The moratorium made Boone the twelfth Indiana county to pause data-center development amid what local reporting describes as a broader statewide backlash to the pace and scale of data-center construction.

The APC's stated concern, per its own materials, was how emerging data-center development could affect land use, infrastructure, utilities, agriculture, and the county's rural character -- language that signals the county is trying to get ahead of a use its existing zoning code wasn't written to anticipate, rather than reacting to a single already-approved project.

A new Energy Overlay District ordinance, still being drafted

While the data-center moratorium buys time, the Area Plan Commission has been working in parallel on a new countywide "Energy Overlay District" ordinance -- a public working draft was released for comment in December, covering commercial and accessory Solar Energy Systems (SES), Wind Energy Systems (WES), and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). As drafted, the ordinance's stated intent is to guide energy development while preserving the county's rural farming communities, protecting property values, and ensuring public safety, and its reported provisions include a 1,000-foot setback from nonparticipating property lines, a requirement that solar and wind projects go through rezoning and special-exception approval, a 400-acre cap on the size of any single solar field, and a limit restricting solar development to no more than 5% of the county's prime farmland. This new ordinance is reported to expand on an Energy Overlay District the county had already adopted the previous December -- so Boone County has now revised its energy-siting rules in successive years, a sign of how fast this area of county zoning is moving.

Because this ordinance was still in draft form as of this research pass, its final adopted terms -- if and when the county board votes it into effect -- may differ from what's summarized here. A buyer or developer with a specific wind, solar, or battery-storage proposal in Boone County should get the current adopted text directly from the Area Plan Commission rather than relying on the December working draft.

What this means for a land buyer right now

If you're buying ordinary residential or agricultural acreage well outside the LEAP district's footprint, none of this is likely to change your zoning experience much -- the county's standard Area Plan Commission process for a home, a pole barn, or a routine agricultural building continues as it always has. If you're buying anywhere near the LEAP district, near a parcel someone might propose for a data center, or near land suited to a utility-scale solar or wind project, confirm three things directly with the Area Plan Commission before you rely on this page: the moratorium's current status (it was adopted as a one-year measure and may have expired, been extended, or been superseded by permanent rules by the time you're reading this), whether the Energy Overlay District ordinance has been formally adopted and in what final form, and whether the parcel sits inside any area affected by Lebanon's pending or contested annexation.