The Hobart Plan Commission delivered unanimous yes votes to two separate site plans, both of which will be operated by Amazon Web Services at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street.
The marathon-length Plan Commission meeting Thursday, which included one arrest, started at 6:30 p.m. and didn’t end until after 11 p.m., and was held in Hobart’s City Court amidst tight security and police presence.
The raucous group of residents, many donning No Amazon Data Centers stickers or wearing No Data Centers T-shirts, stood or packed the standing room only courtroom, which has a capacity of 100.
Dozens of residents, with only two people voicing support for the project, lined up to speak during public comment held after lengthy presentations were made by attorney Todd Leeth for the first site plan and Langan Engineering spokesman Todd Huntington for the second site plan.
The Plan Commission, following the first public hearing, voted 8-0 to approve the site plan presented by Leeth.
That site plan, located southeast of 61st Avenue and Arizona Street, will be known as Hobart Data Center Campus and will include the construction of six data centers and two ancillary buildings on 168 acres.
The second site plan, which the Plan Commission also approved 8-0 following a second public hearing, was presented by Huntington.
That site plan is located south of 61st Avenue, east of Colorado Street and north of 69th Avenue, and will be known as the Hobart Tech Park.
It will include, in the first phase, nine data centers and three ancillary buildings on 555 acres.
The tenant for both tech parks will be Amazon Web Services (AWS), city officials said after the meeting.
Approval is final for both site plan requests, but Leeth and Huntington will need to return to the Hobart City Council and the Plan Commission for final plat approval and rezoning issues, Plan Commission David Vinzant said.
Residents, during both public hearings, were given two minutes to speak, with timing monitored by a Hobart Police officer.
Many residents, like Joseph Conn, asked the Plan Commission to turn the site plans down because of the impact they would have on hundreds of residents who live close to the project he termed “the sacrifice zone.”
“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, and you need to back yourself out of this, or you’ll destroy the community,” Conn said.
Resident Mark Corey, who has lived in Hobart for 63 years, commented about the 18 Amazon representatives present, many of whom sat in courtroom chairs and provided expertise when asked about acoustics, landscaping, traffic, water and drainage.
Corey observed the Amazon representatives smirked when residents spoke.
“They don’t live here. They think it’s smart…. Listen to the residents. It’s like we are ghosts. No one is listening to us,” Corey said.
Two individuals, Angelita Soriano of Hobart and Pablo Payan of Merrillville, were removed from the meeting room by police during the meeting.
Payan, who declined to give his name at the beginning of his public comment, questioned why he needed to provide his name and phone number.
Payan, who was then escorted out by police, said he was asked to leave the building.
“When I questioned why, and didn’t receive an answer, police told me I was being arrested and charged with criminal trespassing,” Payan said.
“I never said no, that I wasn’t leaving,” Payan said to the Post-Tribune on Friday.
He has since contacted an attorney.
Soriano, one of the leaders of the No Data Centers Hobart group, was also removed from the microphone during her public comment when she continued to speak past her two minutes.
She posted on the No Data Centers Hobart Facebook site: “I got kicked out of the plan commission tonight because I went past my two minutes. So much for having a (expletive deleted) voice. We’re fighting for our homes, families and futures.”
Hobart Assistant Chief Nicholas Wardrip confirmed Soriano was escorted out of the meeting because she violated meeting rules, but she left the building peacefully, so no charges were filed.
Payan was asked to leave the podium and meeting room for violating meeting rules, then was arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct after he refused to leave the building, Wardrip said.
Wardrip said rules and regulations for the public hearing were clearly spelled out before the meeting, with a posted sign and presentation by city officials.
“We understand that emotions run high at these meetings, but the Hobart Police Department is tasked to keep safety and order within these meetings, to include enforcement of meeting rules,” Wardrip said.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
