Ire over a planned data center project in Van Buren Township has bubbled over into a recall effort against nine key elected officials there, including the township’s supervisor and the entire Board of Trustees.
Wayne County’s election commission on Tuesday approved language for petitions to recall Van Buren Township’s supervisor, clerk, treasurer and Trustees Bryon Kelley, Kevin Martin, Donald Boynton Jr. and William Frazier.
“We can not let yet another negative industrial attribute come to our small town. The people deserve health and peace,” Jenn Smith, the recall petitioner, said in a Facebook message to The Detroit News. “The development agreement with Google shows an inability to think creatively against knowledgeable developers for the sake of the residents, and we can not allow this Township Board to make the same mistakes again.”
Smith spoke at the planning commission’s June 10 meeting to announce she had started a recall effort against the board members.
The 282-acre construction project on Haggerty Road at I-94, named “Project Cannoli” by its developer Panattoni, is a sprawling data center meant to provide enough power for artificial intelligence tools. It’s projected to use between millions of gallons of water per day and one gigawatt of power.
Similar to other data center plans in southeast Michigan, the project has stirred fury from some local residents over its proximity to residential homes, concerns that it might raise energy and water costs, and disrupt the surrounding environmental ecosystem because the company would fill and build on wetlands.
The planned data center proposes five buildings sprawling over 282 acres. It’s projected to use between 2 million and 3.6 million gallons of water per day and one gigawatt of power. In May, Van Buren Township’s board of trustees approved a site plan for the data center, which is powerful enough to propel artificial intelligence tools.
The attorney representing the Van Buren Township officials, Melvin Butch Hollowell, told The News that he plans to appeal the election commission’s approval of the petition, in part because he believes Smith does not live in Van Buren Township.
“…We very strongly believe (it) violates the law for several reasons. The first major reason is that the recall sponsor doesn’t even live in Van Buren Township,” Hollowell said.
Smith told The News her permanent address is in Van Buren Township, but said she is staying with friends in “an undisclosed location” due to what she said have been intimidation efforts against her.
An appeal would be heard by the Wayne County Circuit Court’s chief judge. A recall petitioner has to be a registered voter living in the jurisdiction or district of the official subject to recall, according to the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
For a recall election to happen, a petition circulator has to gather valid signatures from at least 25% of the total votes cast in the officeholder’s electoral district for the last governor’s election. A circulator has 180 days after the petition language is approved to gather signatures. If the county clerk’s office determines the petitioner has gathered enough valid signatures, a recall election will be scheduled during the next available May or November election.
The township’s municipal services director has previously said the Project Cannoli development falls under “use by right” in the state’s zoning law, meaning the planning commission has an obligation to approve the site plan if it complies with the township’s zoning ordinance.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy held a virtual hearing last week about Panattoni’s application for a permit to build in wetlands and streams. If EGLE approves that permit, the company would have to seek another permit from Wayne County for soil erosion and sedimentation control before clearing and grading work can begin at the site.
jcardi@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Van Buren Twp. recall petitions OK’d over data center plan, but appeal planned
Reporting by Julia Cardi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Julia Cardi, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
