Info meeting to answer questions about proposed data center, industry at St. Joe Farm
GRANGER — Local consultants will hold an informational meeting May 9 to answer questions about the proposed industrial rezoning of 914 acres at the historic St. Joe Farm, specifically for a computer data center and other possible uses.
It comes in response to neighbors’ questions and issues they've raised over several unknowns and how their rural surroundings might change.
The public meeting will run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 52553 N. Fir Road. Enter door No. 6, which is on the south side of the campus near the playground.
April 17, 2024: Revealed: Data center and farmer's woes at St. Joe Farm as county advances rezoning
St. Joe Farm is east of Capital Avenue and Cleveland Road.
Neighbors are armed with an online petition at change.org, drafted earlier in the process, that simply asks for more information on the development. But organizers like Emily Trausch of Granger have more recently come to feel strongly that county officials shouldn’t allow the rezoning.
“Once it’s zoned industrial, there’s no going back,” she said.
The data center and its 1.1 million cubic feet of building space would use less than 200 acres of the land, while the developer has yet to decide what to do with the remainder.
Neighbors, Trausch said, are worried about the potentially heavy use of electricity and water and whether there might be noise, light or other kinds of pollution. The project would rely on the city of Mishawaka extending water to the site. Trausch worries about the prospect of city annexation and how that may bring more development, but public officials have already identified that corner of the county for potential growth.
Opponents crafted a flyer for the informational meeting with the heading "No to Rezone" and a list of the issues they raise.
But, although the flyer doesn't mention it, the meeting is actually organized by Danch, Harner and Associates, who represents St. Joe Farm and the development. Consultant Mike Danch, with the firm, said he won’t have any new information beyond what he’s presented recently to the St. Joseph County Council.
He said he still doesn’t have the data center developer’s permission to publicly name them. Developers, he said, often don’t want to be named before they’ve actually completed purchasing land.
Data centers are known for using large amounts of water to cool the computers. But Danch said he couldn’t yet estimate how much water the data center would consume, saying the developer will work with the city on that. The development, he noted, would mean that several farm irrigation wells would be shut down, which would conserve some groundwater. Mishawaka’s water division manager has told The Tribune that the data center’s water draw wouldn’t harm the city’s groundwater supply.
St. Joseph County Council members will be at the meeting at St. Pius on May 9. The county council’s Land Use Planning Committee recently voted to send the proposed rezoning to the full council without any recommendation. The council has yet to vote on it.
South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Data center at St. Joe Farm questions to be answered at Granger meeting
