Hobart residents opposing the Amazon Web Services data center project are pursuing a legal strategy to hopefully hit the reset button on the city’s site plan approval process.
The plaintiff’s petition, filed in Lake Superior Court, seeks injunctive relief over procedural matters involving the city’s plat and zoning approval process. However, the lawsuit experienced another delay when one of the plaintiff’s attorneys was unable to make a September 22 court appearance due to personal reasons, according to Hobart resident Barbara Koteles.
Koteles is one of the plaintiffs in the case and a resident of the Eagle Creek subdivision, which is located directly across the street for the data center along 61st Avenue.
An attorney conference is scheduled for Sept. 30. Koteles is joined in the complaint by fellow Hobart residents Joe Conn, Angelita Soriano and Albina Venegas-Roman.
The complaint, filed against the Hobart Plan Commission and the Hobart Common Council, seeks a preliminary injunction to nullify a fill permit allowing mass grading on the property, according to court documents.
Earlier this year, Hobart Plan Commission voted to treat the project’s site plan application as an application for a fill permit, the court filing states. Furthermore, “the Plan Commission voted (without findings of fact) to approve the morphed fill permit for mass construction grading activities in preparation for the project …”.
The plaintiffs are challenging the fill permit solely on legal grounds, contending that the Plan Commission had no power to authorize it because it failed to provide all of the information required for a such an application nor did it produce the required findings of fact required for issuance of the permit.
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In series of court filings over the past several months, including motions by the city to dismiss the case, the matter reached a possible ruling on September 22. But as the case has dragged out in court, the city of Hobart has allowed grading and fill work on the 723-acre site to proceed.
The Plan Commission granted the data center preliminary plat approval at a highly-charged five-hour meeting in May, but tabled final plat approval at its September 4 meeting. Final plat approval concerns two separate parcels of land. One area is 555-acre parcel, located south of 61st, east of Colorado Street and north of 69th Avenue, known as Hobart Tech Park and is owned by Amazon Web Services. The other parcel, described as the Ewen Farm property, encompasses 168 acres and is located southeast of 61st and Arizona Street. That parcel will be leased by Amazon Web Services from the current owner
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs are hopeful that their legal strategy can turn back the clock and re-start the plat approval process, as well as reexamine the site plan altogether. By seeking to invalidate the fill permit, which concerns only grading of the land, the plaintiffs hope they can win new concessions, such as air and truck traffic monitoring, if not permanently halt the project.
Koteles said that a judge’s order to re-start the planning process could trigger a review of the community benefits agreement signed between Amazon and the city of Hobart. She also hoped the city would develop a comprehensive ordinance governing data center development and operations.
“The ordinances the city has passed, such as the one involving noise, have been done rather piecemeal,” Koteles said.
She added that there has not been so much work done on the site yet, primarily grading of the land, over which the project could not be reasonably halted without a detrimental financial impact to either Amazon or the city.
The plaintiffs also contend in the court filing that the data center development is negatively impacting their property values (within Eagle Creek), and will do so in the future. The city argues in court documents that the plaintiffs have failed to meet the requirements for a preliminary injunction.
“I wish it (the data center) was just half the size and farther away from residents,” Koteles said. “I’ve been saying that from day one, and if that were the case it wouldn’t even be an issue.”
Soriano said she is concerned about air quality in the neighborhood from the ongoing site work.
“We have asked the city to measure particulate matter and monitor the air quality to make sure that all the dust blowing around is not harmful to residents,” she said, adding that she received a portable air purifier and gift cards for car washes from Amazon.
The city is already spending direct payments from Amazon, having granted tax abatement on the development. Hobart Mayor Josh Huddelston explained that the city negotiated a plan for direct payments, thus granting Amazon a 35-year tax abatement on personal property (equipment on site) and a 10-year abatement on real property (buildings).
The city has already received $47 million, with another $10 million arriving in September, according to Huddleston. He expects a $45 million payment in-hand by the end of 2026, with a $43 million coming in 2027. The city will receive approximately $40 million in both 2028 and 2029 and approximately $52 million in 2030 when the project is expected to be completed. Then, Hobart will receive approximately $52 million per year over the next 35 years.
The data center will have 26 buildings spread out across the two sites, with six buildings at the 61st Avenue location and 20 at the Colorado Street location.
Amazon is planning 170 emergency backup diesel generators at the location on 61st, and 612 emergency backup generators along Colorado, enabling a combined power capacity of 2,119 megawatts.
Attempts to reach Hobart City Attorney Heather McCarthy by phone at the city’s Law Department on Thursday and Friday for comment were unsuccessful.
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.