BUCK CREEK TOWNSHIP — When Erin Brier first moved to the outskirts of the Indianapolis area in 2018, one of the reasons her and her husband chose to live close to Hancock County is because they found it a quaint and serene environment. She described it as a small community with a large area of farmland surrounding the house she now calls home.
As years have passed, however, that serene environment has changed as more neighborhood developments and large warehouses began to populate western Hancock County.
“We still really love the area, but it is definitely less peaceful and less serene to drive by … when it’s either just constant construction and then just these giant cement buildings,” Brier said.
Now, there is a proposal to create an industrial park focused on data centers just a couple of miles down from her home and right next to a business she frequents, Tuttle Orchards. A doula, she often goes to buy Tuttle’s quiches and pot pies for the families she works with. She also goes there every year with her family for its pumpkin patch.
She does not support the data center development being built next to the orchard.
“I read about the development, and I was disappointed but not surprised,” Brier said. “It feels like it would be two completely different worlds right next to each other.”
The Hancock County MegaSite is a proposed planned unit development brought by Surge Development LLC in Shelbyville. The proposed project would turn 775 acres of agricultural land immediately east of Indianapolis Regional Airport in Buck Creek Township into a data center used to store large loads of digital data. Spurred by Tuttle Orchards’ pushback against the proposal, community members are voicing their concerns about the proposed MegaSite project.
In a letter sent out the evening of April 15 the Roney family, the owners of Tuttle Orchards, expressed disapproval of the plans, specifically by saying the approval of the project would be disturbing the atmosphere of the surrounding area.
Hancock County is not the only part of Indiana that has been receiving considerable pushback to data center plans in recent months. Areas such as Franklin Township in Marion County and Pittsboro in Hendricks County have seen significant public turnout regarding the construction of data centers.
Over the past few years, Indiana has become a hub for companies to build data centers. Companies from Microsoft to Google have signed agreements pledging hundreds of millions of dollars of investments across the Hoosier State. Most of this likely stems back to a 2019 bill passed in the Statehouse allowing tax exemptions for data centers that invest between $25 million and $150 million within a five-year period.
Like Brier, Stephanie Kiebach is a frequent visitor to the fourth-generation family orchard. She believes approving the MegaSite project would remove the charm and the scenery the farm has currently, and that the project is incompatible with the character of the surrounding community.
“It honestly makes my stomach hurt to even think that at one point, I could be picking apples and look up and instead of it just being a beautiful countryside scenery, and it could be a parking lot full of cars,” Kiebach said. “It honestly makes me cringe.”
However, the concerns of Hancock County residents go beyond the potential impact on the family-owned orchard. Luke Lomax, a Mt. Comfort resident, said his concerns lie with the potential impact a project of this scale would have on local infrastructure. He believes installing a data center would place a large burden on water and electrical systems in the area.
“I think it needs to be something that’s not going to depend on our county’s current resources,” Lomax said. “They should have their own sustainable power grid. They should have their own water source. If they’re going to be a burden on the existing citizens, then they shouldn’t be allowed to come.”
Data centers sometimes use diesel-powered generators as backup power in case of a power outage or to relieve the power grid. Lomax is worried these generators could pollute the air and ruin the experience at the orchard. The U.S. Department of Energy notes on its website that “data centers are one of the most energy-intensive building types, consuming 10 to 50 times the energy per floor space of a typical commercial office building.”
Kiebach has also voiced these concerns as well. She is concerned about how much water it will take to cool the data center, about the potential for groundwater contamination and about the loss of green space in the area.
At the April 22 Hancock County Area Plan Commission meeting, Surge Development principal Chris King said there will be a public information session at 6 p.m. May 8 at the Greenfield-Central High School auditorium, where the public can ask questions about the project.
“We want community input in this process,” King said. “Our goal from this is to take input from the public and to refine the plan and make a better plan that works for potential development for surrounding landowners and for the community.”
Originally, the proposal was supposed to be considered by the commission during its April meeting, but the topic was continued until the May 27 meeting due to improper notice. Commission president Michael Long said one option could be to schedule a special meeting for the data center proposal and to move it to a larger venue so that more members of the public could attend. Planning director Kayla Brooks said Friday that the May 27 meeting will be at the Mt. Vernon High School auditorium at the regular 6:30 p.m. meeting time.
Lomax said he is not against progress and not against the county making new investments, but he feels like the area chosen for the proposed data center is not appropriate.
“There are other places in eastern Hancock County that are less populated and not next to a public attraction that would be a better option to place these data centers,” he said.
Brier says even if the data center project goes ahead and gets approved, she will still support the orchard.
“I will continue to support them, especially during hard times,” she said. “I just really hope that the legacy and integrity of Tuttle Orchards remains untouched and unbothered by it all.”
FOLLOWING THE PROJECT
6 p.m. May 8: Informational meeting at the Greenfield-Central High School auditorium
6:30 p.m. May 27: Hancock County Area Planning Commission’s regular meeting will take place at the Mt. Vernon High School auditorium to offer more room for members of the public to attend