The New York developer that was denied a rezoning for a data center near New Carlisle this week plans to also build one in South Bend. The project apparently will not need a rezoning that would give the public an opportunity to weigh in.
Developer Western Hospitality Partners plans to build a 10-shell data center on a 300-acre campus northeast of the U.S. 31/20 bypass, near the ethanol plant and across Prairie Avenue from Four Winds Casino. Construction would start in a year and it would be operating a year after that.
That’s according to documents that South Bend Common Council member Oliver Davis says he received Sunday from three farmers who own nearby land. Davis says the farmers declined to be interviewed by WVPE because one of them is already involved in a lawsuit against the city regarding the handling of wastewater from the ethanol plant.
The site already is zoned industrial under the city’s zoning ordinance that it implemented in 2020. Before that, the city had light industrial and general industrial levels of zoning
Still, Davis says the public has a right to know about data centers early on. He’s miffed that he had to learn about these new plans from citizens, when he serves on the city plan commission and chairs the council Zoning Committee, rather than hearing about them from the developer or city administration.
”You’re rushing these kind of big corporations in without having the proper preparation for the local citizens. That’s not correct.”
Mayor James Mueller advocated for the New Carlisle data center before it was defeated. His spokeswoman said he declined WVPE’s interview request regarding this project.
