Lake Superior Court Judge Bruce Parent set a new date to hear an injunction filed by a group of Hobart residents to halt early aspects of an Amazon data center.
Parent, who noted the packed hearing room filled with Hobart residents, said there wasn’t adequate time at Wednesday’s one-hour allotted session for both sides to make their presentations on the case.
“Sorry to disappoint you all,” Parent said.
The new hearing was set for 9 a.m. on March 9 in Lake Superior Court.
The four residents, including 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.
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 legal fight is now on,” Conn said after the hearing, adding, “I’m glad this judge is giving it adequate time and his attention.”
Soriano said while she was disappointed the judge didn’t make a ruling, she’s glad he is paying attention in his courtroom.
Parent, at the beginning of the hearing, said it was “a rare occasion” when his courtroom is filled.
“He (the judge) sees that the courtroom was filled and even though he didn’t hear the case, he recognized the full courtroom and that the community has our back,” Soriano said.
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.
Dearing said that although he was disappointed the judge wasn’t able to go forward with the hearing, he understood the judge’s scheduling issues.
Tim Ochs, an attorney for Hobart Owner, LLC, said, “We look forward to continuing the process in the court.”
Other attorneys at the hearing included Hobart City attorney Heather McCarthy; David Westland, an attorney representing the city of Hobart; Drew Miroff, an attorney with Hobart Owner, LLC; and Greg Neibarger, an attorney representing Amazon.
The four Hobart residents, Soriano, Venegas-Roman, Koteles and Conn, 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.
