US tower and data center firm American Tower has dropped plans to develop an Edge facility at a telecoms site in Indianapolis, Indiana.

As reported by the IndyStar and Fox, the company confirmed it has withdrawn its rezoning application with Pike Township for the planned facility.

American Tower first filed to develop a 20,000 sq ft (1,860 sqm) building at 7701 Walnut Drive back in November.

The single-story building would have totaled 4MW on seven acres of the 53-acre property. The company was planning to use a closed-loop cooling system and not require any additional electrical infrastructure.

The site is already home to a 1,000-foot (304.8 meter) broadcast tower and a two-story, 4,400-square-foot support building, both of which would remain in place.

American Tower told local press the decision was due to being informed that the City of Indianapolis is revising its zoning regulations. The company could, however, revisit the proposal once the new regulations are in place.

The new ordinances could restrict where data centers are built and whether they're eligible for city tax incentives. Township councilors this month voted down plans for a full-scale data center moratorium, however.

“American Tower would prefer to review the project after this process has been completed. Although we are not advancing this particular proposal, our decision reflects a desire to ensure that any future initiatives align with both local connectivity needs and community priorities,” the company said.

An opposition group, Project Pike Township, has 760 members on Facebook at the time of writing. More than 1,200 residents signed a petition to oppose the development. The group celebrated this week’s news with a post saying, “Victory!” but noted residents have to “keep a watchful eye” for future developments because the township lacks data center-specific zoning.

As well as owning data center firm CoreSite, American Tower is developing a number of Edge data centers at cell tower sites across the US. The company claims to have identified more than 1,000 sites in its portfolio that could support 1MW Edge data center locations.

The company operates several small Edge colocation sites - branded as Access Edge data centers - at existing tower locations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Jacksonville, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; and Denver and Boulder, Colorado. It recently launched a 1MW facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has previously filed to develop another in San Antonio, Texas.