Angelita Soriano refuses to take “no” as an answer when it comes to getting her group’s viewpoint across to Hobart city officials.
Soriano is one of hundreds of Hobart residents protesting two proposed data centers to be built off Colorado Street and 61st Avenue.
Site plans for one of the two proposals will be presented at the Hobart Plan Commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the gymnasium of the PCC Building, 705 E. 4th St..
In addition to the Hobart Devco proposed data center, Wylie Capital is also seeking to build a data center on 400 acres at the southeast corner of 61st Avenue and Colorado Street.
That site has received final rezoning property, from R-3 to M-1, but petitioners have not yet presented site plans, according to city officials.
Plan Commission meetings are generally held at the Hobart City Hall, but an exception was made after Soriano’s No Data Centers Hobart Indiana group made the request to accommodate protesters.
“I anticipate a very large crowd on Thursday,” Soriano said.
Listed on Thursday’s agenda is a public hearing for a site plan and fill permit request from petitioner Todd Leeth, attorney for Hobart Devco, LLC.
Leeth, on behalf of Hobart Devco, is proposing a data center to be built on an 168-acre parcel on 61st Avenue, roughly half a mile from the roadway’s intersection with Colorado Street.
The 168-acre parcel, which has been given M-1 zoning approval by both the plan commission and city council, still needs to go before city officials with site plans provided by the petitioner, Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun said.
Huddlestun said the petitioner on Thursday will be presenting a site plan at the meeting, which will be followed by the public hearing.
In addition to a site plan presentation, which is only preliminary and not final, the petitioner will also be seeking a proposed fill permit, Huddlestun said, which requires that a developer demonstrate its fill won’t impede drainage or cause problems for adjacent properties.
More meetings will follow the presentation on Thursday, he said.
Huddlestun said the change to the different venue was made following a request by Soriano’s group after the Oct. 15 City Council meeting, when there weren’t enough seats to accommodate all who attended.
“They (those in the group) asked for it and they got it,” Huddlestun said of the change of venue.
The larger venue, the PCC gymnasium, provides seating for approximately 800 attendees, according to a post on Hobart’s agenda site.
“After reviewing all available facilities and considering logistical and scheduling constraints, the PCC gymnasium was selected as the most suitable option,” city officials said.
Attendees may enter through the middle door marked “Court/Sanitary District.”
As always, City of Hobart meetings are available to watch live on Zoom, according to the city’s agenda site.
Soriano said she grew up in Hammond and moved with her family, including two daughters, to Hobart three years ago because of its small-town feeling and its close proximity to Chicago.
She is opposed to the proposed data center because it would be located right across the street from where she lives.
Her biggest concern is in regard to the noise which she said will be emitted from the data center.
It’s her understanding, from what she has read and researched, that the sound can be heard from two to three miles away.
“I’d be within a mile of the building. I can open the door and I’m right there,” Soriano said.
She said she had a two-hour meeting with the mayor and she admits he held an informational meeting last summer for the public but she’d like an additional informational meeting at which city officials, consultants and the developer would be in attendance.
“I have also requested to be at Wednesday’s City Council meeting,” she said.
Although the group requested to move the City Council meeting at 6 p.m., Huddlestun said the venue will remain the same, 414 Main St., since there are no data center petitions on the council agenda.
In the meantime, Soriano said her group is trying to get the word out and has some 1,500 names signed on a petition.
In addition to protests held outside of city hall, the group has made presentations on area radio stations and even put messages on billboards.
Most recently, the group is trying to connect with elderly residents.
“There’s a lot of elderly who don’t have Facebook or don’t get out that much,” she said.
Soriano said those wanting more information on her group can go to their No Data Centers Hobart Indiana Facebook site.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
