Clunette Residents Concerned by Data Center Project
Published: Friday, March 28, 2025
A proposed data center targeted for northern Kosciusko County is raising concerns among local residents.
Roughly 200 concerned people packed a Clunette church last Tuesday to voice their opposition to a data center project proposed for 500 acres northeast of town. Several people complained that they don't know any information about the project, including its size, the impact it would have on the underground aquifer and the local electrical system, and the name of the company wanting to build it.
"It just seems like we know nothing," said Gabe Ayers, a local businessman who led the community meeting. "We're as much in a fact-finding mission as we are in a protecting-our-community mission."
Despite the lack of information, the area plan commission will hold a hearing next Wednesday to consider a petition to rezone 554 acres from agriculture to Industrial 3.
"Our main goal here is to protect the agricultural community," Ayers said.
He went on to explain that the greater Leesburg-Clunette community has a strong farming tradition, but a large data center could chew up valuable farm ground and interfere with the quality of life for neighbors.
Another concern is the large volume of water needed by data centers to cool the densely packed computer hardware systems that generate considerable heat. Karen Templin, one of the speakers, said a data center could strain local water resources.
She and others said they have more questions than answers. They don't know how much water will be used and what the drawdown will be. Also unknown is how the data center would affect farms that irrigate crops.
Reagan Templin, another speaker, expressed concern about the amount of energy needed to sustain a data center. Although there is a NIPSCO substation located nearby, she said Indiana has a 20% energy shortfall and local users already face a 22% rate hike, even without this project.
In other areas where they've been built, data centers have created jobs and generated considerable tax revenue for local government. However, Nick Yoder of Leesburg said he is concerned the potential tax incentives offered by state and local governments could undermine those benefits.
Ayers said he is trying to keep an open mind but wants more information so he can compare what this project might do for the Clunette area.
"I don't want to stand here and say it's 100% negative, but I do want to say that we want to protect our agricultural community," he said.
Despite the local opposition, county officials have been working for the past few months to prepare in case data centers were to come to Kosciusko County. Last October, the area plan commission voted to rezone approximately 10 acres near Pierceton for a smaller data center. And just last month, the plan commission created a new "I-3" zoning category for heavy industrial uses, such as data centers. The county commissioners approved that new zoning category.
The land being considered for development near Clunette is currently zoned for agriculture. It has three owners: Murphy Place LLC, Timothy Polk and Polk Family Farms.
High-tech companies like Google and Microsoft are in a race to build data centers to expand AI (artificial intelligence) capacity. Indiana currently has 56 data centers spread out across the state, with more projects on the drawing board or under construction.
Is now the time for a data center in Kosciusko County? Is the Clunette area the best place for a data center? These are questions the seven-member plan commission will consider when it meets at 1 p.m. on April 2 on the third floor of the old county courthouse in Warsaw. The plan commission will make a recommendation to the county commissioners, who will take final action at their meeting on April 22.
One of the plan commission members, Kevin McSherry, attended the community meeting last Tuesday and said the decision has significant consequences for the county.
"This is a big decision. It weighs heavily on me," he said. "Personally, I'm losing sleep over it already, and I've got until April 2."
As of last Tuesday, McSherry said members of the area plan commission also lacked vital information about the proposal, but he said he's been told more details will come sometime this week.
On Monday, the still-unnamed company released a site plan showing more than a dozen buildings. The data center would consume 739 megawatts per day.
Jared Templin, a local farmer, said he understands that data centers are coming, but he believes they should be located in other areas.
"We support data centers, but they need to be placed where the existing zoning already allows for their construction," he said.
The Clunette proposal, he added, violates the spirit of the county's comprehensive land use plan, "which rightly emphasizes the urgent need to preserve farmland."
Indiana has lost 350,000 acres of farmland since 2010. He said when large amounts of farmland are converted to development, it "threatens our state's agricultural heritage and our food security."
"If this rezoning happens, it won't stop at just the data center," Templin said. "A domino effect is all but certain. The Industrial 3 zoning opens the door for sprawling solar fields, battery storage facilities and expanded transmission lines."
He and Ayers both urged county planners to honor the comprehensive plan.
"There are other places where these things could be put," Ayers said. "The bottom line is, they're not making any more farm ground, correct?"
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