Microsoft wants to build sound wall at Granger data center
Microsoft is seeking a zoning variance from St. Joseph County to build a 30-foot sound wall at its Granger data center. County Area Plan staff support the wall, which is intended to reduce low-frequency noise affecting nearby homeowners across the Indiana Toll Road.
Microsoft has asked the St. Joseph County Board of Zoning Appeals for permission to build a 30-foot sound wall at its data center in Granger. The county’s zoning code does not currently allow sound walls, so the company must obtain a variance at the board’s Nov. 12 meeting.
St. Joseph County Area Plan Director Shawn Klein and his staff support the request, saying the wall would provide nearby homeowners with protection from industrial noise similar to that available elsewhere in the county. A county sound ordinance was amended earlier in the year to address low-frequency industrial noise, but it does not cover subdivisions north of the Indiana Toll Road because the highway exceeds the ordinance’s width threshold.