Protesters at the Hobart City Council weren’t as numerous as at past meetings but just as united in their message: no data centers at 61st and Colorado.
“We don’t want it; we don’t need it,” resident Devin Heming said during a public hearing held on Wednesday that would potentially vacate an unimproved platted right of way of 2.84 acres, located south of the 61st Avenue and Arizona Street intersection.
Heming was one of about a dozen residents in attendance with many wearing “no rezone” t-shirts.
All voiced their concerns about bringing data centers to Hobart and the ramifications, including the lowering of property values, impact to the environment and wildlife, and the peace and quiet of the area being affected by additional lights and loud noise.
The 2.84-acre easement is owned but not used by the city of Hobart, city officials said.
The city council, following the public hearing and response from petitioner Todd Leeth, approved the proposal upon first reading.
Leeth is an attorney for Hobart Devco, LLC, which is proposing a data center to be built on an 168-acre parcel on 61st Avenue, roughly half a mile from the roadway’s intersection with Colorado Street.
The 168-acre parcel, which has been given M-1 zoning approval by both the plan commission and city council, still needs to go before city officials with site plans provided by the petitioner, Mayor Josh Huddlestun said.
At the Wednesday meeting, Leeth said that even if city officials didn’t approve the easement, the remainder of the property is zoned M-1 so data center plans for the acreage, now part of Ewen Farm Subdivision, can proceed.
He said once the easement is approved his client can go forward with designing and planning of the data center.
“We’re not causing any harm to anyone,” Leeth said.
Hobart Clerk-Treasurer Deborah Longer said when the easement is vacated, Hobart Devco can finalize the purchase of the land.
“They can’t build what they want with the easement sitting there. Once that happens, then they’ll purchase the land and they can go forward with plans,” Longer said.
The city council on Sept. 3 unanimously gave final rezoning approval to another property — from R-3 to M-1 on 400 acres at the southeast corner of 61st Avenue and Colorado Street — but specified must be used as the site of a data center only.
Protesters packed the meeting room on Sept. 3, with many angrily walking out then returning to speak at the end of the agenda when public comment was allowed.
One of those protesters, Marie Fryar, spoke that night and returned on Wednesday to voice her objection to any data centers.
Fryar said she had spoken to a Realtor and was advised property values of houses would go down if the data center was allowed to be built.
“No one wants it across from their houses. No one wants this in our town,” Fryar said.
Helen Engstrom, a longtime Hobart resident, brought with her an article from Bloomberg Business News that cited a data center the same Virginia data center Hobart officials had visited as “taking away from the quality of life” for those whose homes were nearby.
“I love this community deeply…Why turn it into data center heaven?” Engstrom asked the city council.
Resident Joseph Conn said he had two issues in regard to vacation request.
“What do we get out of it and is this good planning?” Conn asked.
Huddlestun, who hosted a public hearing on the issue and traveled with other city officials to Virginia to visit a large data center in that state, said the next step in the process is for the petitioner to present site plans to the Hobart Plan Commission.
Neither Wylie Capital nor Hobart Devco, LLC, have done so, he said.
Petitioner Jason Simon of Wylie Capital, a Chicago-based real estate developer that builds data centers, was in attendance at last month’s city council and plan commission meetings.
Simon, who gave a brief presentation at the plan commission meeting, said the proposed location off Colorado and 61st Avenue is ideal because it is adjacent to utilities, has an ample water supply, and is in close proximity to the interstate highway and railways.
He said the property has some natural buffer zones, including the new overpass, and developers will add berms that will exceed city code standards.
Engstrom questioned why other cities in Northwest Indiana had turned down requests to place data centers in their communities, including Chesterton and Valparaiso.
“Are people in all these communities stupid?” Engstrom said.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.