SHELBYVILLE — The City of Shelbyville Common Council voted 6-0 for a continuance on an ordinance for a proposed data center on Wednesday.
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Prior to the meeting, hundreds lined up to protest.
35-year resident and organizer of Shelbyville Citizens Against Data Centers, Connie Lindsay, says over 6700 people signed their petition.
“The environmental issues, health and safety issues, we’re losing valuable farm ground. We don’t feel we want industrial sites on the east, north and the west sides of Shelbyville. That’s not a good look for Shelbyville," Lindsay said.
California-based real estate firm Prologis wants to build a data center complex on land east of the State Road 44 and Interstate-74 interchange. The petitioner is asking for roughly 429 acres to be annexed and rezoned from Agricultural to Industrial.
“Protect the heritage of the farm ground in Shelby County. We’ve already got ordinances in place to keep this from happening. This is why we’re here. So they don’t zoning go through," Matthew Settles said.
Settles wants to preserve the farmland for future generations, like his daughter Brooke Thompson and his grandchildren.
“It’s heartbreaking to think they wouldn’t consider what this county has been built on. That’s farming. It’s a rural community," Thompson said.
“Our farms depend on it. We’re supposed to grow on this land, not take from it. It takes from our land and it takes from the rest of our resources that we need for farming our land," Whitney Carson Mahin added.
WRTV asked a spokesperson from the City of Shelbyville for a statement, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
The Common Council expects to vote on this ordinance at the February 18 meeting.
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Nico Pennisi is the In Your Community reporter for Downtown Indy. He joined WRTV in October 2022. His passion has always been telling the stories of people who often get overlooked. Share your story ideas and important issues with Nico by emailing him at nico.pennisi@wrtv.com.
