Microsoft is seeking the county’s permission to build a sound wall at its Granger data center site.
The St. Joseph County Board of Zoning Appeals will hear Microsoft’s request at its meeting on Thursday, Nov. 12. County code does not allow for sound walls, so the company is seeking a zoning variance to build a 30-foot-tall wall.
The county council earlier this year amended the county’s sound ordinance for industrial users to shield nearby residents from low-frequency sound, the kind of sound waves that you can feel instead of hear. But the ordinance doesn’t apply to the subdivisions north of the Toll Road because the highway is wider than 150 feet, meaning Microsoft can’t be held liable for sounds on the other side of it.
In a memo to the board, Area Plan Director Shawn Klein said he and his staff support the request. He writes that not letting Microsoft build the wall “would deny homeowners in the area the enhanced protection from industrial noise which other residents of the county now enjoy. Adverse impacts from potential noise and vibration are a particularly common public concern currently for data center uses.”
