Lake Superior Court Judge Bruce Parent said a ruling will be issued later this month on an injunction filed by a group of Hobart residents seeking to halt early aspects of an Amazon data center.
“I will issue a ruling the week of March 23. I guarantee,” Parent said.
The Crown Point hearing on Monday lasted nearly five hours, with attorneys on both sides arguing their case and directed by Parent to file any further findings with him by March 20.
Four Hobart 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 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.
Hobart Realtor Sophia Mason was the first to testify on Monday.
Mason, a Hobart resident and a Realtor with 23 years of experience, said she has already seen a slow down on homes, correctly priced but not moving. near the proposed data center.
She said that the most notable slowdown was in regard to three homes she listed in the new subdivision of Eagle Creek, located directly north of the proposed data center site.
Mason said residents don’t want to invest money in a home that will be across the street from a data center.
David Westland, an attorney representing the city of Hobart, questioned at length Mason’s professional qualifications, including asking her if she had an appraiser’s license, which she said she didn’t.
“She does not have the expertise to do that,” Westland said, referring to testifying on property values.
He said there’s a number of factors that go into home sales, including timing and interest rates.
“That’s why banks put their money on the appraisal,” Westland said.
Westland also presented three homes on multiple listing services (MLS) in Hobart, all near the proposed data center location, that had sold at or above the selling price sought by their owners in the last few months.
David Dearing, the attorney for the plaintiffs, said Mason should be allowed to testify, stating that she has knowledge beyond that of an appraiser.
“She does not have to be an appraiser to testify,” Dearing said.
All four of the plaintiffs testified, including Soriano, Venegas-Roman, Koteles and Conn.
Soriano, whose home is 500 feet from the proposed data center site, said she and her husband bought their home in Eagle Creek three years ago to raise their two daughters.
She said she liked the area because it’s a quiet, nice neighborhood and because of the good schools.
Koteles, who lives one-fourth mile from the proposed data center site, said she’s already been woken by activity at the site as early as 4 a.m.
She is worried that once the data center is being built, traffic along 61st Avenue will be a nightmare.
“I live off 61st Avenue and I can foresee traffic jams that won’t allow me to get out of my subdivision,” Koteles said.
Venegas-Roman, who lives in Eagle Creek subdivision, testified that she lives right across the street from the proposed data center.
She’s seen equipment at the site as early as 5 a.m. some mornings.
“It gets me stressed out,” Venegas-Roman said.
David Vinzant, a four-term Hobart City Councilman, who now sits on the Hobart Plan Commission, also testified during the hearing.
Vinzant, when asked by Westland, explained the fill permit process ordinance set up by city officials and why it is necessary.
He also testified as to the amendment he made at the Nov. 6 meeting and before the vote on the request made by petitioner Todd Leeth.
The amendment, which clearly stated a “fill permit,” was to avoid any confusion because some city paperwork had used the term site plan as a header in some of its notices.
Soriano, who testified a second time, was asked by Westland about her use of the word fill permit in her social media posts, making it clear that fill permit was what the petitioner was requesting.
“Did you know it was a fill permit?” Westland asked,
“Yes,” Soriano said.
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.
Other attorneys at the hearing included Hobart City attorney Heather McCarthy; Drew Miroff, an attorney with Hobart Owner, LLC; and Daniel J. Hay, an attorney representing Amazon.
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.
