Another call for judge to stop SK hynix construction
Plus, a city non-disclosure agreement with SK hynix raises new questions. And the prosecutor says an attempted murder and kidnapping last week followed attempts to pay to get custody of 7-year-old
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ANOTHER CALL FOR JUDGE TO STOP SK HYNIX CONSTRUCTION
An attorney carrying the second half of a two-pronged legal challenge of the location of SK hynix’s $3.87 billion high-bandwidth memory facility filed a motion Monday for a preliminary injunction to stop construction along the northern edge of West Lafayette.
An attorney for Sean Sasser and Karl Janich – a pair of West Lafayette residents who filed a lawsuit in June 2025 to overturn a city rezoning vote that allowed the semiconductor plans to move ahead north of Kalberer Road – argued in a Monday court filing that a temporary restraining order should be issued to stop earth-moving and other work that started in late February on more than 100 acres north of Kalberer Road.
The motion filed in Tippecanoe Circuit Court argues that Sasser and Janich “are already subject to increased vehicle traffic, including but not limited to large-scale truck traffic that commenced with construction activities, increased dust, loss of the residential character of their neighborhoods, loss of ability to enjoy their properties and daily activities and a diminution of property values.”
The move followed a similar one in the past week by an attorney for Lora Williams, another West Lafayette resident who filed a similar lawsuit in June 2025, targeting SK hynix, PRF and the city of West Lafayette, arguing that the city council overstepped its authority with a controversial 6-3 vote in May 2025 to rezone the land between Yeager Road and County Road 50 West, from residential to heavy industrial uses.
It also follows word last week from SK hynix that crews planned to start piling work on Friday, April 17, for the facility’s foundations. The South Korean company received building permits from the city in January that included $98 million worth of foundation work for an office building, the company’s fab/manufacturing facility and a central utility building, all along the Yeager Road side of the project, according to city records.
The company announced in February that work at the site would start so SK hynix could meet deadlines to get the facility open by late 2028. “Actual vertical work,” as a company spokesperson put it last week, was expected in the coming months. The city has not issued permits for that work, yet.
SK hynix has argued in court filings in recent months that once permits were issued and construction started, the company had “vested rights” that couldn’t be taken back, even if the rezoning decision is eventually overturned. They also argued in responses last week that preliminary injunctions could have been filed with the lawsuits nine months ago and that a recent motion filed by Williams that requests to order the removal of the facility after it’s built “should be denied as futile.”
SK hynix, the city and PRF also already have asked for summary judgment for their side, challenging whether the three plaintiffs live close enough to the site to have standing to challenge the zoning decision.
In Monday’s maneuver, Arie Lipinski, attorney for Janich and Sasser, argued that SK hynix, the city and Purdue Research Foundation stalled the court hearings by blocking efforts by the plaintiffs to get at evidence they’ve sought from agencies not named in the lawsuits. Lipinski argued that “claiming a vested interest in land use is not tantamount to a favorable judgment resolving this litigation.”
“Respondents should not benefit from their strategy of delaying and obstructing the discovery process while pressuring the Court to rule on only the issue of standing as they proceed with construction and effectively claim victory through a notice to the Court,” Lipinski wrote.
Sasser and Janich filed documents that outlined their arguments about how concerns about air and water discharges from the plant, along with an industrial use and truck traffic coming to and from it changing the residential nature of the area, would compromise health and hurt their property values.
The next court hearing in the cases is scheduled May 14 in Tippecanoe Circuit Court.
Also on the SK hynix front …
A new NDA on city records and SK hynix’s ‘trade secrets’ and ‘confidential’ documents: Last week, Eric Burns, the city’s general counsel, signed a non-disclosure agreement with SK hynix that city officials say will put the company on the hook for defending records requests they contend should be considered trade secrets or “potentially other sensitive company information” under the state’s public access laws.
