West Lafayette city council hears pushback as they approve rezoning for new manufacturing plant

A controversial rezoning plan was approved for a new chip manufacturing plant in West Lafayette this week. The City Council heard more than five hours of public testimony on Monday about the rezoning, with the majority opposed to the move.

The chip manufacturer SK hynix asked to have a residential area rezoned for industrial use to build its nearly $4-billion facility. The plant will produce high-bandwidth memory chips that are used for AI and other technology development.

Senior Vice President for SK hynix, N.K. Kim said the project is good for the city.

“The City of West Lafayette will soon witness unprecedented growth and transformation driven by new jobs and our collaboration with Purdue University,” Kim said. 

The project was originally approved for a different site already zoned for industrial use. The debate during the council meeting focused on the benefits of building on a new site, right across the street.
Attorney Chris Shelmon with Gutwein Law said the new site has one major advantage.

“It's the only site that can be designed from scratch, which allows the best development and the most mitigation of impact on neighbors,” Shelmon said.

Dozens of community members spoke against the proposal with concerns about potential health risks, traffic and the impact on neighborhoods. 

Christopher DeMarco said his concerns come down to the unknown environmental effects on the community.

“There's no studies, nothing. They don't even know how they're going to discharge the water yet and what's going to happen once they do. There's no proof, there's no testing. I'm just telling you, this is such a mess,” DeMarco said.

The plant was announced a year ago as part of the Purdue Research Park with federal and state support.

Contact WFYI Managing City Editor Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org.