‘Light industrial project’
Angelita and her family moved to Hobart a little over three years ago to a newly built house. Then, they found out that a large data center facility was going to be built right across the street from her home.
Originally, it was proposed as a six building data center project, but another project got connected to it, and it turned into a 26 building data center project on over 700 acres of farmland, very close to a residential area. The city is considering this a ‘light industrial project.’
Finding out about the data center
Angelita says that one of the reasons she and a large group of residents oppose the data center is that it is still unclear what the health and environmental effects of the data centers will be.
In January 2025, she first heard about the planned data center through her homeowners association. She said they received a message saying that a six building data center project was going to be built. At the time, she didn’t know much about what data centers were. During the summer of 2025, neighbors started knocking on their door, saying that more buildings had been added to the project.
At that point, Angelita says she started doing research about what data centers were, what hyperscale data centers were, what the pros and cons were. She realized that a 26 building data center project was not a ‘light industrial project.’ Then, she started talking to other residents and raising questions about the project.
Health concerns
Health effects are one of her main concerns. She says that while a 700 acre industrial site is planned next to her home, zero health impact studies have been done.
In their application, Amazon asked for 782 diesel generators spread over the 26 buildings. These are called ’emergency backup generators,’ but other projects have been found to run on a consistent basis. Residents are concerned this will lead to air pollution similar to that felt by people living next to other data centers.
Another concern is drinking water. Near the area of the data center is a waterway called Sprout Ditch, which feeds into Lake Michigan, which provides the drinking water for the area. There are also some homes that are on well water. There are concerns these might get contaminated or depleted. This has happened in other places where hyperscale data centers were built.
Angelita says that one of their main asks is for an independent health impact analysis to be done. If the city, or Amazon won’t contribute to making an independent health impact study, she says they are looking into getting one made themselves.
NDAs
Initially, it was unclear which company the data center was for. Angelita says that it was announced only in November 2025 that the data center would be for Amazon.
She says that out of the the mayor and city council, everyone except for one person have acknowledged that they have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). When the residents started going to the city council meetings, she said their questions were not answered, and they were they would get no information until the site plan was released.
Angelita says many residents are upset because they feel there has been a severe lack of transparency. This has led to tensions between the residents and the council.
Tax exemptions
The tensions increased even more after tax cuts were approved for Amazon. The electricity use is sales tax free. The personal property taxes, which would include all the computers in the data center, have been cut for 35 years. And the city gave Amazon a ten year, 100% property tax exemption.
Mayor says there are ‘zero negative things about data centers’
Angelita says she met with the mayor in the fall, and had a two hour long conversation. She voiced her concerns about the data center. But, Angelita said it felt more like a sales pitch. After listening to her concerns, the mayor tried to sell her on the idea of this data center. She said she left feeling completely dismissed, because the last thing the mayor said was that he had done so much research on data centers, and that there are zero negative things about data centers.
Initial meetings
In the beginning, a group of residents started doing 2-3 meetings per month to discuss what to do about the data center, and 20 to 30 people showed up in each meeting. They went canvassing to talk about the group, it also spread via word of mouth. They also partnered with groups such as Citizens Action Coalition, and Just Transitions in Northwest Indiana. One of the first large public meetings they then held atracted over 500 people, and over 90% were opposed to the data center project.
Legal actions
The group started a legal battle in December 2025, and are challenging the rezoning. According to them, data centers of this size don’t fall under ‘light industrial project.’
They also have a second legal action going on at the same time to challenge the site plan. Angelita says that in May, when the site plan approval came up, their meetings had very high police presence. She says it has an intimidating effect sometimes and some people are afraid to speak.
State of the project
Angelita says that site preparation has started, and mass grading has been done.
Angelita says that one of the things that frustrate her is that at the public meetings where the city council is, the residents get only two minutes per person to speak. Almost everyone is opposed to the project. In the meantime, Amazon gets all the time they need to present the project and talk about why they think the project is great. She says the meetings usually last 2-3 hours, but the last one lasted almost 6 hours.
What has worked so far
Angelita says that the things that worked best so far included raising awareness among neighbors, creating a Facebook page and website, and partnering with organizations like Citizens Action Coalition and Food and Water Watch. Angelita said she had also been asked to got to NYC for the Alt Met Gala event with SEIU and the Athena Coalition, which is a watchdog coalition for Amazon.
What’s next
“We have seen, that when one project comes in, more come in,” Angelita says. She says that they are going to be pushing for stronger language in their ordinances
For others opposing data centers, she advices to “do your research, get organized quickly, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from other organizations and residents.”
More information
Find more information on https://hobartdatacenters.org