Petitioners present written commitments and technical data as council hears a lengthy public hearing on proposed West Saint Joseph County data center

Saint Joseph County Council heard an extended public hearing and technical presentation on Bill 42-25, a petition to rezone roughly 1,000 acres on the south side of Chicago Trail from agricultural to industrial to allow a multi-phase data center campus.

Sean Klein, director of the Area Plan Commission, opened the item by reporting that the petition carried an unfavorable APC recommendation (7–0) and that the land-use committee forwarded it with an unfavorable recommendation (3–2). Klein summarized the public record: petitioners provided several letters in favor while the APC hearing recorded many written remonstrances and spoken opposition.

Brandon Dickinson, representing the petitioner, told the council the project has been the subject of misinformation and pledged transparency. He read a series of points denying that staff or council were under nondisclosure agreements and emphasized the site lies in unincorporated Saint Joseph County — not within New Carlisle — which is why the county has zoning jurisdiction. Dickinson also said the project would not "take" New Carlisle's water but would coordinate service with the town's regulated utility.

Dickinson and engineer Annie Denine (Kimley-Horn) presented a draft set of 12 written commitments the petitioner said it would accept if the rezoning passed. Those commitments include prohibiting several heavy industrial uses, a…