(La Porte, IN) - The City of LaPorte has received a request to annex more than 1,000 acres of farmland.
The request from all of the property owners is triggering speculation that it’s for construction of another data center beside the one Microsoft just started constructing on the city’s south side.
“I don’t buy for one minute that there’s not an offer from either Microsoft, Amazon or one of the big data centers to add on to his project,” said LaPorte County Commissioner Steve Holifield, who’s against the proposed annexation.
LaPorte Economic Advancement Partnership Executive Director Bert Cook said signed petitions from the property owners seeking annexation were submitted to the city council on March 16. A public hearing on the request is scheduled April 13 during the La Porte City Council meeting at City Hall beginning at 6 p.m.
Drawing concern from nearby property owners is the site being next to farmland where Microsoft recently started moving dirt for a data center it’s constructing on Boyd Boulevard just east of U.S. 35. Cook would not reveal if there are any ties between the annexation request and Microsoft or some other technology firm looking to put up a data center. He preferred allowing other information the public is seeking to come out later as it normally does while following the standard procedures involved with this or any other formal request.
In general, Cook said annexation is sought from landowners wanting their properties served by municipal water and sewer since the city no longer extends lines to areas outside the corporate boundaries. Cook said utility service makes vacant ground, for example, more valuable to prospective buyers looking to develop the property.
The data center now under construction is on nearly 500 acres of was historically farmland purchased by Microsoft a few years ago from the former owners, who also sought to be annexed into the city. The city granted their request for annexation not long before a deal for a data center with Microsoft was announced.
In recent months, residents in the area have gone to multiple La Porte County Commissioners’ meetings to express concerns about having their lifestyles damaged from another data center possibly near the Microsoft site.
Their speculation has been fueled by things like the occasional presence of surveyors in the area of the Microsoft site. Holifield, a farmer from the Mill Creek area, said surveyors were out there again on March 16 in vehicles that had their company names and logos covered.
Two days later, the commissioners voted to research whether an ordinance can be adopted to prohibit such pieces of identification from being concealed, feeling residents have a right to know who’s near their property.
Holifield said he’s not opposed to data centers here as long as they go into the more secluded Kingsbury Industrial Park about four miles south of the city. He’s strongly against them being placed on farm land, though, and near existing homeowners.
Holifield said he supports landowners’ rights except when it comes at a cost for other residents nearby.
“You can do what you want with your property but you do not have the right to destroy your neighbor’s enjoyment of their property,” he said.
Holifield said there’s probably nothing county government can do to stop the city from potentially annexing the property, but “it’s about time someone stood up.”
