MORGAN COUNTY — Nearly 200 people attended a special meeting of the Morgan County Plan Commission on Monday night that was held to hear a request to rezone additional property in Monroe Township for a possible data center.
While many spent nearly two hours speaking against the rezone request, the plan commission ultimately sent the request to the county commissioners with a favorable recommendation in a 5-2 vote.
Commission members Joe Crone and Jason Maxwell voted against the request, while members Terry Brock, Melanie DePoy, Michele Jones, Dustin Frye and Bill Rumbaugh voted for it. Members Kenny Hale and Brian Patrick were absent from the meeting.
The county commissioners — Don Adams, Bryan Collier and Hale — will have the final say on the rezoning request at their meeting Monday morning.
The request
Indy-based Barnes and Thornburg attorney Joseph D. Calderon represented the petitioners, HDC Real Estate LLC and Woodland Caribou LLC, in their request to rezone around 158 additional acres of land in the 1500 block of West Keller Hill Road to Planned Unit Development (PUD). The rezoning will allow a data center to be constructed on the property.
The property is located next to property, around 391 acres, that was previously rezoning PUD for a data center, bringing the total acreage of the project to nearly 550 acres.
Before hearing from Calderon, the commission had to vote on a petition filed by remonstrators to table the request for a future meeting.
The board voted to continue the meeting and hear the developers’ request.
Calderon said this was phase two of “Project Louie,” which is the construction of a data center just outside Monrovia.
He gave a short presentation on the benefits the center will bring to the county. He said the current request uses the same ordinance standards the first request had. It has the same buffer and noise standards and the same development standards as the first PUD request.
Audience speaks
Fifty-four people signed up to speak on the issue, and of those, about 35 ultimately took advantage of the three-minute periods the commission allowed for them to express their concerns.
Their concerns were many.
One concern was the lack of information on Project Louie. Several people expressed their displeasure with the lack of information on the project and that no one would pay attention when they asked questions.
They made note of the fact the commission had not asked the applicants any questions about their project, and they felt the matter was a “foregone conclusion.” Several wondered about “back door deals” being made.
(Commission members did ask several questions of the applications before they voted, though they did not get all the answers to their questions.)
There were numerous questions about where the water would come from that the project needed. There were concerns that wells in the area would be adversely affected by the water usage and where they would have to go to get help if that occurred. There were concerns about where the project’s wastewater would go.
There were concerns about the loss of farmland that would be taken out of production forever.
Several people said that even though the data center is not under construction yet, they are having problems selling their property due to the threat the center will be constructed on the land.
Several said their property values have fallen due to the center being considered for the area.
A couple of people expressed concerns the company would have a nuclear reactor on the property to generate electricity.
Some asked if there was a phase 3 in the future. They cited the company’s statement that phase 1 would be the only area that would be rezoned.
They wanted to know who purchased the property.
One man became extremely irate and had to be escorted back to his seat by deputy sheriff’s who were providing security for the meeting.
Some felt the use of the land as a data center was not “the highest and best uses” of the property, which is a point of emphasis in the county’s comprehensive plan.
There were concerns about possible future health risks associated with data centers.
There were concerns about the increase in traffic in the area.
Some expressed concerns the data center would kill Monrovia.
Madison Township Trustee Larry Ellis expressed concerns his township could be in line for a data center. He was concerned how it would affect his township.
One person asked why the company did not go to Martinsville and take advantage of the industrial parks in the area.
Petitioner speaks
Calderon said the people had good questions, but at this time, the company does not have all the answers.
He said the rezoning request was the first step of many before construction could begin. He did say there were no plans for a nuclear reactor to generate power for the center. He did say the company would have a generator for emergency use.
Commission speaks
Several commission members asked questions about the project. Calderon said there is still more work that needs to be done before they have the answers the commission wants.
“I am up here to make a very painful vote,” said plan commission member Bill Rumbaugh, adding he’d been accused of taking money and making promises for the project.
He and several people in the audience began arguing during his statement. Other commission members said they had encountered similar comments over the center.
After the statements were done, the commission voted 5-2 for a favorable recommendation for the plan.
The plan commission recommendation now goes to the county commissioners, who are expected to make the final vote on the rezone request at their 9:30 a.m. meeting on Monday, Oct. 6.
