An injunction filed by a group of Hobart residents to halt early aspects of sitework for an Amazon data center is slated for a Wednesday court hearing.
The hearing takes place at 10 a.m. in Lake Superior Court in Crown Point. The injunction was filed by four Hobart residents against the city of Hobart.
The four residents in their lawsuit are seeking to stop earthmoving activities related to the proposed Hobart Data Center campus at 61st Avenue and Arizona Street.
The Hobart residents, Angelita Soriano, Albina Venegas-Roman, Barbara Koteles and Joseph Conn, filed the motion for preliminary injunction on Feb. 5, citing violations of local law and due process.
Hobart City Attorney Heather McCarthy could not be reached for immediate comment on Monday.
The motion filed by the four Hobart residents asks the court to void a fill permit approved by the Hobart Plan Commission on Nov. 6 and to prohibit Hobart Owner, LLC, from conducting any grading or earthmoving on the property located southeast of 61st Avenue and Arizona Street.
The petition, filed against Hobart Devco and now known as Hobart Owner, was for a fill permit for an 168-parcel located south of 61st Avenue and Arizona Street intersection, court documents state.
A majority of the plan commission on Nov. 6 voted “yes,” approving a request by petitioner Todd Leeth for a permit at an 168-acre parcel located south of the 61st Avenue and Arizona Street intersection.
According to the court filing, the plan commission on Nov. 6 approved the fill permit without a legally required site plan, drainage plan or a complete fill permit application which are actions residents argue directly violate Hobart’s municipal code.
The lawsuit challenges the city of Hobart’s Plan Commission decision to convert a site plan review application into a fill permit during a public meeting, despite the application lacking basic information required under city ordinance. Residents allege that approving earthwork without a site plan prevents meaningful public review and undermines environmental and infrastructure protections, court documents state.
The filing also notes that Indiana courts apply a heightened standard when government actions are plainly unlawful, allowing injunctive relief to protect the public interest even before final judgment.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorney David E. Dearing of Dearing Law Firm.
Depending on what happens in Wednesday’s Lake Superior Court hearing, the four Hobart residents may also consider filing a second injunction in regard to the Hobart Plan Commission’s 5-3 vote taken Feb. 5, Soriano said.
The vote taken by the plan commission on Feb. 5 approved a fill permit request from Langan Engineering and Environmental Services on 605 acres eyed by Amazon for its future data center, referred to as Hobart Tech Park.
The four residents in early December filed the first lawsuit seeking to vacate multiple actions by Hobart city officials that have “prepared” the way for the possible construction of an Amazon data center on more than a square mile of farmland within city limits.
The plaintiffs allege the two municipal bodies, the Hobart City Council and the Hobart Plan Commission, violated their “due process rights under the constitution of the United States and the State of Indiana.
Soriano, during the Hobart City Council meeting on Jan. 21, announced that she and three other homeowners had filed a second lawsuit against city officials regarding action taken by city officials on Jan. 7, which included approval of the $47 million contribution.
Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun has called the $47 million upfront cash payment Hobart received late last month “record-breaking.”
“Hobart secured the largest publicly known upfront cash payment ever for a private development on private land in the country. The developer (Amazon) will pay $47 million in community enhancement payments. These dollars are not part of the levy and not part of any TIF (Tax Increment Finance) district. They (funds) go straight to the city and can be used to serve the whole community,” Huddlestun said previously.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
