PITTSBORO — Plans to open a new data center in Hendricks County moved forward Tuesday night.
The Pittsboro Advisory Plan Commission voted 4-1 in favor of a controversial rezoning petition at a public hearing.
It’s now up to the Pittsboro Town Council to vote on.
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Jason Anderson is the one APC Member who voted no.
“I felt that a lot of people from the town had questions that were raised and weren’t getting the good enough answers," Anderson said.
The other board members declined to comment on the rezoning at this time.
Vantage Data Centers applied for the rezoning of roughly 626 acres of Smith Family Farms from Agricultural (“Ag”) to Warehouse Industrial (“I-1”).
The property is located west of County Road 500 East between County Road 850 North and County Road 1000 North.
Jacy Robling
Keith Yeager lives right across the street from the potential development.
“We don’t wanna look at a power station across the street. That’s not what we envisioned when we built the house 20 years ago," Yeager said.
He feels the town makes decisions that are not in the best interest of him and his neighbors, whose addresses technically fall outside of the town’s jurisdiction.
“We’re a lot of high-value homeowners that are right around this area that are being dramatically impacted by it, yet we have no say. We can’t vote for these people," Yeager said.
The Advisory Plan Commission Staff Report states that the data center would generate minimal traffic, have its own power contract, have limited water use and create a “tremendous” additional tax base, and wouldn’t strain community resources like fire or police.
Matt Mazelin is skeptical.
“My concern is: are these people the honest people they say they are and they gonna do what they say they’re gonna do," Mazelin said. “We wanted more country living. We wanted to be living away from everything and be able to have that rural life. That’s kinda being threatened right now.”
The Pittsboro Town Council will vote on the rezoning at the March 18 meeting.
