Area Plan Commission sides with farmers in opposition to Kosciusko County data center

WARSAW, Ind.-- In a major win for those opposed to a data center coming to Kosciusko County, the Area Plan Commission voted against the rezoning petition for the proposed project.

This means the proposal now goes before the Board of Commissioners with an unfavorable recommendation from the APC.

Monday's APC meeting was packed; so full that organizers set up an overflow room nearby where people could watch a live stream.

Two members of the public spoke in favor of the project, excited about the promised tax revenue. The rest of the crowd spoke in opposition.

Some comments from those in attendance include:

"This is farmland."

"Our peace and quiet is over if you allow this to go through."

"Farmers are the backbone of the community, so why are we concerned about a data center?"

"The proposed change directly impacts my home, my community, and the future of agriculture in our state." "The encroachment of industrialization threatens not just our land but our identity."

"Our land is seen as expendable and affordable. An easy target for profit."

"Let's look for alternatives."

It’s unclear what company is looking to build a Data center in Kosciusko County, but the developer would be Preligis.

The petitioner is looking to rezone 554 acres in Leesburg--- placed strategically near the Leesburg substation off W 700N--- from agricultural to industrial. The company is promising, through a voluntary condition, that rezoning would only be to build a data center; they couldn't change their minds and build a factory or anything else.

The lawyer speaking on behalf of the petitioner says they plan to build 10 buildings on site, and a representative from Preligis says the center would be used for cloud computing and machine learning (a.k.a. Artificial intelligence).

Signs reading "no data center, save ag land" adorn many of the yards in the surrounding area.

The biggest complaint is that this violates the rural culture of the area, it destroys farmland, and breaks promises in the Kosciusko County Comprehensive Plan. It should be mentioned, though, that the county did open the door for data centers through an ordinance passed back in February.

Still, after reading all the letters sent in and the comments made Monday, the APC is siding with the farmers and rejecting a data center in Kosciusko County.

Monday's meeting lasted nearly 3 hours.

"Relieved, but this is just step one, still have to go to the commissioners," said 4th generation farmer Jared Templin. "Where it's going, it's taking up productive agricultural ground, and there's nothing in our area that is even close to that. Prime farm ground, it's what we do for a living, it's what god provided us, and we just got to take action to preserve it."

The proposal goes before the county Board of Commissioners Tuesday, April 22nd at 9:15 a.m.