The Howell Township Resident Research Committee is working hard on contributions to a data center-specific ordinance for the municipality, presenting a 17-page report to officials Jan. 27.
The report included definitions that could be outlined in the ordinance, possible zoning requirements, and which sites in Howell Township could/should be eyed for development.
The data center proposed in 2025 on over 1,000 acres of land — which led to the creation of the committee in the first place — was considered a hyperscale data center. But other, smaller centers exist, such as ancillary data centers; which take up less than 10% of a building’s footprint and can often be found in developments like hospitals.
The report recommended establishing an overlay district near the highway and train tracks, where there’s existing industrial and industrial flex zoning, and suggests capping the total number or square footage of data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities allowed.
Those limits would directly address one of the main concerns residents had over last year’s proposal: that Howell Township would become dependent on millions of dollars in taxes the unnamed applicant promised to pay.
The report recommends requiring facilities like data centers to first consider previously occupied or industrial sites, including brownfields, before rezoning minimally impacted land. It also recommends forbidding “spot rezoning,” meaning any rezoned parcels must border existing industrial or industrial flex properties.
The work is still just beginning for Howell Township, following a six-month moratorium passed in November that ultimately resulted in the withdrawal of the controversial application.
— Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Howell Township committee proposes new rules for data center ordinance
Reporting by Tess Ware, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
