As Microsoft prepares to break ground on its Granger data center, the St. Joseph County Council Tuesday passed a bill creating new limits on the low-frequency sounds that industrial users can emit.
The bill, worked on for months by Democratic County Council President Bryan Tanner, creates a new process for people living near industrial operators to complain about the low-frequency sounds they generate. These sounds aren’t audible but they can cause health problems.
The ordinance grandfathers business projects with existing building permits, like Amazon’s data center being developed near New Carlisle. Still, Jeff Rea, South Bend Regional Chamber president, spoke against the bill because Rea said it could still require existing businesses to incur new costs.
Republican council member Dan Schaetzle joined the council’s four Democrats in voting for the bill.
"As I explain the ordinance to residents, the overwhelming response is that they’re pleased in the direction that we’re headed," Schaetzle said. "I live less than a half a mile from where the data center is going to be and I agree with them. I don’t want to deal with low-frequency noise issues. I don’t want to have headaches or any other issues related to noise.”
