(Hannah Gunnell/South Indy Connect photo) Franklin and Warren Township residents packed the Franklin Township Civic League Wednesday to hear a presentation from the petitioner of a proposed data center campus at the intersection of Post Road and Troy Avenue. The petitioner has submitted a rezone request with the City of Indianapolis.
By HANNAH GUNNELL
Franklin and Warren Township residents packed the Franklin Township Civic League Wednesday evening to hear more information about a proposed data center campus at the intersection of Post Road and Troy Road.
Barnes and Thornburg Attorney Joe Calderon and EMH&T Engineers Brian Rossi and Mat Stypula attended the League’s monthly Land Use Committee Meeting to give a presentation on the site’s rezoning request and to answer the community’s questions related to the project. The request will go before the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Hearing Examiner over the next couple of months.
The site is almost 500 acres located within the boundaries set by Post Road to the west, Troy Avenue to the north, Davis Road to the east, and Vandergriff Road and I-74 to the south.
The company requesting the rezoning for the data center campus has asked to remain confidential as it goes through the due diligence process, though Calderon did say it is a US-based, publicly-traded Fortune 100 company. A data center is a facility that stores data, and a data campus is a site that has multiple data center buildings.
“A data center basically is a place where there is storage of computers that store data,” Calderon said. “Every time we use our devices and connect to the outside world, that creates data. We watch videos, we stream, we do all kinds of things. Artificial intelligence is certainly at the forefront of data capability now. Data centers manage that information and hold it, and allow us to do all the things we take for granted on a day-to-day basis.”
While the request before the City of Indianapolis is for a rezone, Calderon presented a site plan to those in attendance of the Civic League’s meeting. This data center campus site plan includes four buildings, each of which would employ about 100 people, Calderon said. The site plan also includes a new AES substation.
“The number one question is why here?” he said. “We’ve been engaging with real estate brokers to look for sites in the general Indianapolis area for the reason that that is where a lot of the data is. This team works with utility companies to determine where the best power sources are. As a combination of location availability and power availability, this location was actually working in conjunction with AES because there’s a big transmission line that goes through this property.”
The location is currently zoned DA, the city’s lowest agricultural zoning. Calderon said the petitioner is seeking a Commercial Plan Development or C-S rezoning. He clarified the city is asking for the C-S rezoning because it would allow officials to restrict uses and better control development of the site. The city’s Comprehensive Plan has this parcel of land scheduled for industrial use, so this petition is in line with the city’s future plans, Calderon said.
The proposed campus would use city water, operated by Citizens Water. This is not going to affect residents’ wells, Calderon assured those in attendance.
Water utilized on site will be discharged to a nearby water treatment plant, he said. Retention ponds will be placed on the site to assist with surface water retention and storm water runoff, as the site is located partially in a wetland. There are two main ditches that run through the site: the Ficher on the north side of the property and the Miller on the south. Calderon said the petitioner plans to avoid building near the Ficher and anything north of it.
The main entrance is set for Post Road. The city is working on a proposed roundabout at Troy Avenue and Post Road, so the petitioner is engaging with the Department of Public Works to conduct a traffic study.
“This is not a heavy-traffic-generating use,” Calderon said. “It’s not a warehouse project where you have semis coming in 24/7. This is mostly passenger traffic, and there will be some, but it’s not your heavy truck traffic.”
Calderon also told those in attendance that the petitioner is planning to exceed the CS setback requirements. Setbacks off I-74 and Post Road is only 10 feet, and the maximum setbacks are 75 feet.
“We exceed all of those,” he said. “And we’re asking for a variance on the maximum setback because what we’ve done is provide a minimum 150 foot buffer yard on the perimeter of Troy, Davis and Vandergriff. That is well in excess of the standards that C-S [set] and that’s well in excess of industrial standards.”
The buffer yard includes 10-15-foot high berms and additional landscaping on top. The petitioner is completing a tree survey on the property. The results of that study, as well as input from adjoining property owners, will determine the type of tree landscaping that goes on top of the berms, Calderon said. The rendering also included a decorative fence at the base of the berms that would be visible from the road. Existing structures in the buffer yard will be torn down.
The petitioner will request a variance for building height. The C-S zone requires the building’s maximum height be 45 feet, and they are going to request permission to build to a maximum of 75 feet.
One resident commented that height would “tower over” the neighbors.
“It may not ever get to 75 feet,” Calderon said. “The buildings typically aren’t that tall. We’re just trying to guess what the future might hold.”
Two of the four buildings will be located closer to the site’s perimeter. A resident requested if the petitioner would be open to restricting the height of those buildings to 45 feet as a zoning commitment. Calderon made a note to ask the petitioner.
Concerns were also expressed about noise, as data centers can put out 60 to 100 decibels of sound, one resident said. Calderon said the petitioner would conduct an ambient noise study both now and after the site is built.
“We will study the noise, both ambient and what we produce to model the site and assure we are meeting whatever the standard is,” he said. “The Indianapolis standard is kind of vague. It just says you can’t produce noise that would injure adjoining property. We intend to meet all of our performance standards, including noise and everything else.”
The overall construction of the whole campus will be completed in phases and could take up to 10 years.
The League had previously submitted a list of questions residents proposed to the data center representatives. Some of them were answered during Wednesday’s meeting. The rest of them will be answered at the Franklin Township Civic League Land Use Committee’s April 16 meeting.
Residents adjoining the property received a legal notice of hearing with the Hearing Examiner for April 10; however, the League’s land use committee advised there will be a continuance to the May 15 meeting. Questions were asked about who would receive legal notice, and the League’s land use committee advised only those within two properties or 660 feet of an adjoining property would receive a legal notice.
The Franklin Township Civic League scheduled an additional public informational meeting at 6 p.m. April 2 (though the petitioner will only be at the April 16 meeting). Data center representatives will attend the latter meeting. Both the additional and regular April committee meetings are held at the League’s building, 8822 Southeastern Ave.
“We will be back,” Calderon said. “We hope when we come back we will be able to answer questions we are not able to tonight.”
Until then, additional questions can be directed to the Land Use Committee Chair Cathy Burton at cb7801@aol.com.
