Elkhart County Planning Commission hears public comments against Bristol data center rezoning
GOSHEN, Ind. -- The public comment portion of the evening was supposed to wrap by 6 p.m., however, the large number of people who wanted to speak to the Elkhart County Planning Commission about the proposed rezoning effort in Bristol, kept public comments going until 7 p.m.
The proposed project causing the furor is Bristol Innovation Park DPUD (Detailed Planned Unit Development.) If you'd like to read the entire proposal PDF, you can do that here.
According to the website, there is not currently a plan for a data center in the space, but the proposed rezoning would make it possible for a data center to be built there.
Today was another step forward in the rezoning process, the public comment portion. The residents of Elkhart County were invited to voice their opinions on the possible rezoning, and the crowd was so large that they did not all fit into the location, St. Marks Methodist Church, in Goshen.
At the beginning of the meeting, the line of those wanting to speak stretched out the door. There were also multiple lines of people waiting to sign petitions against the proposal. The meeting began at 2 p.m. and the public comment portion lasted for five hours.
The volunteers, the petitions, and the rooms full of people were all there for one reason -- to oppose land rezoning for the Bristol Innovation Park, and the possibility of a future data center
Keith Hiebner lives in Goshen and was at the meeting to support his neighbors and fight for their resources. "Water is such a precious resource for us and I'm really concerned about the necessity of the data center. Do we really need this, for one, and two, do we need to take up so much of our precious resources?"
Anna Ruth Hershberger says there's power in numbers. She says the community's presence makes a clear statement, that Elkhart County residents do not want a data center.
"In the end, we cannot eat money. So, this isn't about the right and the left. What impresses me is we have people who are democrats and people who are republicans. We have people who look like they have a lot of money and people who look like they don't have a lot of money. We have older people, we have younger people, we have different races. We have all kinds of people who have been showing up. We've had people outside of the county show up because they know what it's like to have a data center in their community. So, if they're not listening to that, my question is where is the money? Who is it being funneled to? And what are the conversations happening behind closed doors? Because they have been clear."
After the end of public comments, the Planning Commission held a vote, with seven members voting no on the rezoning recommendation, and two voting yes. Now the 'No' vote will be passed on to the Bristol City Council, who have a meeting scheduled for a week from tonight - Thursday, July 16 at 7 p.m. at the Bristol Town Hall, 303 E. Vistula St.