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Porter County schedules May 13 neighborhood meeting on proposed data center; residents raise health, traffic and water concerns
Summary
The county’s planning staff scheduled a neighborhood meeting for May 13 at the Porter County Expo Center to let residents hear the petitioner and provide comment; planning staff and residents described next steps in the zoning and PUD review process.
Porter County planning staff and the Board of Commissioners announced a neighborhood meeting for a proposed data center on May 13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Porter County Expo Center. The meeting is intended as an introductory forum for the petitioner to present the project and for residents to register comments; no formal action or vote will occur at that meeting.
Planning staff explained that the neighborhood meeting is an early step in the county’s Unified Development Ordinance and Indiana code process for rezoning and a Planned Unit Development. Planning staff said an application must be deemed complete before the planning commission schedules a public hearing; after the commission’s recommendation the proposal goes to the commissioners for readings and possible votes.
Residents at the April 22 meeting expressed strong concerns about public health, noise, traffic and water handling. Amy Ketchum of Union Township asked for a clear timeline: “What happens after the neighborhood meeting? … What are we looking at?” Planning staff said the timeline depends on when the county determines the application is complete and does not commit to a date until that step is finished.
Union Township residents, school officials and health-care professionals urged caution. Jennifer Shine, a registered nurse and Union Township parent, said she is worried about long-term health effects for children who will attend nearby schools: “I don’t want my child to be an example … for what their future health became.” Lee Barnes, the incoming superintendent for Union Township Schools, said the school board had passed a resolution opposing the project and that he would attend the neighborhood meeting.
Speakers at the meeting also raised questions about infrastructure. Residents asked how the developer would route power and heavy truck traffic, whether diesel fuel storage or generators would be used, and how cooling water would be handled and discharged. One commenter noted that similar projects in other jurisdictions had been contested and sometimes denied; others cited recent denials in neighboring counties as part of their concerns.
County staff said the neighborhood meeting will be recorded and the petitioner will be required to address comments at subsequent public hearings. Commissioners emphasized that they will follow the statutory process; one commissioner said commissioners could deny a project at the first reading if the record supports denial.
The county urged residents to attend the May 13 meeting to provide input; planning staff said that comments during the neighborhood meeting will be part of the public record that petitioners must address before formal hearings.
