Hobart residents weren’t shy in voicing their opposition to a proposed fill permit request on 605 acres eyed by Amazon for a future data center referred to as Hobart Tech Park.
The dozens of people who spoke at the packed Hobart High School auditorium on Thursday at times swore, prayed and boisterously called out their disapproval to members of the plan commission, who were holding the meeting.
Those who lined up to speak, including two individuals who spoke in favor of the request, were allowed two minutes each during the nearly three-hour meeting.
The central message to the commission was clear: Residents are concerned about how the data center will affect their environment and wildlife, their home values and the cost of already spiraling utilities, including electricity.
“It’s time you listen to us,” Hobart resident Patricia Corey told city officials.
“Take your trucks and go, Amazon,” Corey added.
The plan commission voted 5-3 to approve the fill permit request from Todd Huntington of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, who spoke briefly before the vote to answer commission questions.
Todd Huntington of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services speaks before the Hobart Plan Commission vote Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Deborah Laverty/for Post-Tribune)
Those voting against the proposal were members Stuart Allen, Lloyd Emig and Matthew SeDoris.
Those voting for the proposal were Dan Schultz, Mark Kara, Maria Galka, David Vinzant and city engineer and member Alex Metz.
The approval on Thursday of the fill permit allows the moving of dirt only on the property located south of 61st Avenue, east of Colorado Street and north of 69th Avenue, said Galka, who chairs the plan commission.
The next step in the process will include the presentation of a site plan, which will include environmental impact and the presentation of other pertinent studies, Kara said.
Vinzant, before the reading of the fill permit request, asked for an amendment which was approved by the commission.
That amendment reads, in part:
•All references to site plan or grading plan are to be changed to “fill permit.”
•The petitioner is informed that before the actual site plan can be approved, there must be discussion with the plan commission regarding where the final entrances to the site will be located along 61st Avenue, with some of the commissioners feeling strongly that the entrance be aligned with Arizona Street to service the site.
•The petitioner is also informed that the creation of a path or trail between the north side of the berm and the gas pipeline is part of the site plan.
•The plan commission and the petitioner agree that the fill permit will expire when a site plan is approved for this site.
The request for the fill permit had been scheduled for the Jan. 15 plan commission meeting but was postponed to Thursday.
That’s because some citizens who came to the planning department to review documents related to the proposal found they weren’t available in hard copy because of issues with the department’s printer, Hobart City Attorney Heather McCarthy said.
Angelita Soriano, a spokesperson for the No Data Center group, was one of the citizens requesting the fill permit documents.
Soriano, who spoke at the plan commission meeting, said she was there to object on both procedural and legal grounds.
She and other residents who spoke said that city officials should have required a site plan review before approving the fill permit.
“This project has been advanced in pieces,” Soriano said.
She is one of four residents who have filed a lawsuit against city officials in opposition to data centers in Hobart.
Soriano, after the meeting, said she plans to file an injunction against the city in regard to this most recent action.
Bill Eich, a resident in Eagle Creek subdivision, said he has already been awakened by early morning trucks at the proposed data center site.
“I’m asking to postpone this until a site plan is presented. You need to see what it is,” Eich said.
Jennifer Williams, who lives in Amber Creek Estates, asked for a pause and a moratorium on the project until more information is presented.
“We’re not asking for perfection; we’re asking for the basics,” Williams said.
Hobart resident Jerri Stratter, 84, said she is worried about the impact the data center will have on her well water during a plan commission meeting Thursday. Feb. 5, 2026. (Deborah Laverty/for Post-Tribune)
Resident Jerri Stratter, who gave her age as 84, said she is most worried about how the data center will affect her well water.
“Nobody will tell me if I’ll have a well left…I worked a long time. My house will be destroyed,” Stratter said.
Resident Alan Dickerson said he has been fortunate to live in Hobart for a number of years and loves it.
“I love Hobart; my kids love Hobart,” Dickerson said.
He said information he has gleaned indicates the data center may be obsolete in 10 years. “You will be stuck with 600-plus acres,” he said.
Brooklyn Perry, 14, a freshman at Hobart High School, said her family had moved to Hobart, a place they happily call home.
That won’t be the case if they approve plans for the data center, Perry said.
“Shame on you…I want to have a good life,” she said.
Heather Ennis, president and chief executive officer of the Northwest Indiana Forum, was one of two individuals speaking in favor of the data center.
Her comments about the thousands of construction jobs the project would bring to Hobart elicited boos from other residents.
“I encourage you to pass this,” Ennis told the plan commission.
The Hobart City Council, at its Jan. 7 meeting, approved resolutions, including a contribution of $47 million to the city, allowing Amazon Data Services to proceed with its data center plans at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street.
That check for $47 million has been received by the city and will be invested, both Hobart Clerk-Treasurer Deborah Longer and Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun said on Wednesday.
Huddlestun has called the $47 million upfront cash “record-breaking.”
“Hobart secured the largest publicly known upfront cash payment ever for a private development on private land in the country. The developer (Amazon) will pay $47 million in community enhancement payments. These dollars are not part of the levy and not part of any TIF (Tax Increment Finance) district. They go straight to the city and can be used to serve the whole community,” Huddlestun said.
Because of this agreement, Hobart does not have to raise its income tax and that means the city can fix roads, improve drainage, invest in parks, invest in its youth, and keep public safety departments strong without putting more pressure on residents, he said.
Huddlestun said the cash is crucial to the city in part because of Senate Enrolled Act 1, the state law that cut property taxes.
“Those cuts will significantly reduce revenue for cities across Indiana. We prepared early because we did not want to lay off employees or cut the services you depend on,” he said.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
