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Surge Development LLC is pulling the plug, for now, on plans for a massive 775-acre data center complex in rural Hancock County.
The “megasite” would have been located roughly between the Indianapolis Regional Airport and Tuttle Orchards along County Road North 400 West. The Shelbyville-based developer didn’t have an end-user signed on, but hoped the project would attract any number of large companies looking to enhance their data or AI capacity.
But Surge withdrew its rezoning request this week after significant public opposition to the plan, much of it voiced at a public information meeting earlier this month.
Surge principal Chris King did not immediately respond to Inside INdiana Business on Thursday. He did put out a written statement saying he is withdrawing the rezoning request for now, but he hopes to rework the proposal with more specifics.
“The discussion has been both constructive and valuable,” the statement read in part. “We’ve clearly heard from the public that additional specificity and clear direction are needed to fully understand the potential impacts and benefits of development in this area. Your input has reinforced our belief that meaningful public participation must remain at the core of this process.
Based on that feedback, we believe the most prudent course of action at this time is to pause and formally withdraw the current zoning request. Instead, we will focus our efforts on working directly with the specific users who have expressed interest in the site. This approach will allow the community to evaluate individual projects on their merits—with specific details available—before any future zoning action is considered.”Opposition to the data center project coalesced around Tuttle Orchards, which has been in business in the area for nearly 100 years. As planned, the data center would have gone in on the western edge of the farm’s property.
Tuttle sent emails to customers informing them how to contact local officials and oppose the plan. The company also started a petition outlining the negative effects it felt the development would bring.
Tuttle Orchards co-owner Mike Rooney also spoke out at an informational meeting for the project on May 8 at Greenfield-Central High School.
“We believe that rezoning this large area of ground to industrial for data center uses with such a broad and unspecific plan being a significant risk of adverse affects on Tuttle Orchard’s ability to continue to exist and and provide the experience and the producers customers want,” Rooney said.
Surge’s withdrawal of the rezoning comes as multiple other data center projects across the state have hit snags in recent months. Though Indiana enacted robust tax incentives for data centers, local communities are increasingly voicing opposition citing noise complaints, large water and electrical usage and the loss of farmland among other concerns.
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