Shelbyville Common Council tables annexation and rezoning request for land targeted for data center campus

The Shelbyville Common Council tabled a request Wednesday for the annexation and rezoning of approximately 429 acres just east of Interstate 74 along State Road 44.

The land annexation and rezoning of the property is the first step for Prologis to take a serious look at the feasibility of a data center campus in the area.

The annexation request and rezoning first appeared before the Shelbyville Common Council on Jan. 5. The meeting held at City Hall was standing room only with many more outside the meeting chambers, down the staircase to the first floor and outside the door following the meeting online.

The council voted 5-1-1 then to refer the request on to the Plan Commission for further review – a typical procedure in annexation and rezoning requests.

The Plan Commission met two nights later at Breck Auditorium to discuss the potential land use and hear from those residents in attendance who voiced serious concerns over water and electrical usage that is prominent with data center projects.

After a nearly five-hour meeting, the commission voted unanimously, 11-0, to send an unfavorable recommendation back to the council for its final vote.

On Wednesday night, once again at Breck Auditorium to accommodate several hundred individuals that showed up to continue voicing opposition, the council voted 6-0 to table the request until the second council meeting next month on Feb. 18.

Councilman Denny Harrold was not in attendance for the meeting Wednesday. He was the lone abstention vote at the first council meeting because he works for the same law firm representing the petitioner making the annexation and rezoning request.

A small group staged a peaceful protest in front of Shelbyville High School Wednesday where the Shelbyville Common Council was set to vote on an annexation and rezoning request for a large parcel of property east of Interstate 74 along State Road 44 that has been targeted for a potential data center campus.

The council expressed much concern at Wednesday’s meeting over Prologis’ interest in Shelbyville and wanted more time for proper due diligence.

“I think we all have different big and little parts we are concerned about and we share those concerns a lot,” said Common Council President Mike Johnson after the meeting. “Mine is the property tax and tax abatements, what does the actual revenue look like for the next 20 years. We haven’t gotten any kind of incentive package of any kind.”

Councilwoman Betsy Means-Davis spoke before the vote asking for an environmental study to be done on the land to firm up what kind of impact a data center would have in that area, much of it is farmland, which is just outside city limits.

Means-Davis also stated she has visited four separate data centers in the last two weeks and saw both positives and negatives.

“Several of us went up to Chicago and visited two different facilities there, one is under construction,” said Johnson. “They won’t let you in an operating one because of the heightened security these things have but we were able to visit the outside perimeter.

“It was in an industrial park and we were standing between the two of them … it was very impressive with the sound dampening going on. It was in an industrial park, but the highway noise was louder than any in that industrial park.”

Prologis is a California-based real estate investment company that has produced several operational data centers. Representatives from Prologis attended and spoke at the first council meeting earlier this month and at the plan commission meeting. No one representing Prologis was at Wednesday’s meeting.

While a site plan has not yet been created, a data center campus in Shelbyville could hold as many as 13 buildings and employ more than 400 full-time employees, according to Prologis, with salaries topping $100,000 per year.

“I am still concerned about the jobs,” said Johnson. “There are a lot of extra details we need to get out of Prologis … and go find it for ourselves.”

The Shelby County Post is a digital newspaper producing news, sports, obituaries and more without a pay wall or subscription needed.