A large data center is still going forward in Lyon Township, but the township’s board of trustees has passed a resolution to make sure the community is prepared for similar projects in the future.
The board voted unanimously Monday night to enact a 180-day moratorium on data centers and all other proposed developments that are 100,000 square feet or greater. The moratorium was enacted so the township planner, engineer and consultants may conduct a review of current data center regulations.
The resolution comes after a 1.8-million-square-foot data center east of Milford Road was approved by the township’s planning commission in September. The project didn’t come before the township board of trustees because the companies working on the project did not seek variances or zoning changes.
Before the vote, attorney Matthew Zalewski clarified that this data center, named Project Flex, will not likely be impacted by the moratorium.
“It would be halting the applications of newly proposed data centers,” Zalewski said. “As long as something got in before the moratorium, the processing can continue.”
While the moratorium is in place, the township will conduct a “comprehensive review” of data center and large land use regulations including zoning, impacts on utilities, noise and light mitigation, stormwater management and economic benefits versus costs.
Residents on Monday night spoke for an hour and a half before the moratorium vote. Paul LaVoy questioned the length of the moratorium, which is on the short end of moratoriums passed in Metro Detroit. Some communities, like Northville, have passed moratoriums that last a year.
“Why six months? Is this a minimum? Can you do a maximum?” LaVoy asked.
Township Supervisor John Dolan explained that the timeframe is so the township can “put some teeth” in an ordinance to address the data centers.
“(This is) so that if it ever goes through again, it doesn’t just go through the system of permitted use,” said Dolan.
The board members amended the moratorium to include developments of 100,000 square feet or greater after they acknowledged they need to reassess land use for other large users as well. Trustee Robert Swain said not including other large land uses would put the board “right back in the position where we are now” if such an application were to come before the planning commission in the next few weeks.
Zalewski said the board could put a moratorium on large applicants in April, but board members said they needed to pass it Monday night.
“I do not want to wait until next month, because tomorrow, we end up with something that is equally ugly,” said Trustee Lise Blades.
The passage of Project Flex has led to two and a half months of pushback from residents who don’t want the center in their community. Several spoke during the public comment section at the beginning of the meeting Monday night.
“This decision was made in haste by people who are not considerate of our community and our environment,” resident Molly Mahoney said.
Nelson Abramson, CEO of Project Flex’s company Verrus, argued the data center will not adversely affect the community because it won’t have diesel generators, will use significantly less water and will strengthen the power grid.
Abramson also noted the land for the center has been zoned industrial since the 1950s.
“From the beginning, we have designed this facility to address concerns about other data centers,” he said.
Resident Nadine Valenzuela argued the zoning doesn’t reflect the current state of the land, which is more residential than it was in the past.
“It’s time to update the zoning to reflect what Lyon Township is today,” Valenzuela said.
mbryan@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: As ‘Project Flex’ proceeds, Lyon Township hits pause on new data centers
Reporting by Max Bryan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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