LYON TWP. – The township will not accept new applications for data centers for at least the next six months.
The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a moratorium on data centers and large land uses, or facilities that exceed 100,000 square feet, while officials study various issues and update township ordinances.The move came during the board’s March 2 standing-room-only meeting, during which dozens of residents again voiced anger over Project Flex, a 1.8 million-square foot data center planned for South Hill Business Park West.The moratorium does not affect that project, which was approved by the planning commission last fall as an acceptable use in the industrial district and for which township Planner Brian Keesey received the 93-page final site plan on Feb. 17.
“As a starting point, this (moratorium) does not apply to the existing application as it is today, but future data centers,” township Attorney Matt Zalewski explained to the crowd, adding that 180 days is a typical term for an initial moratorium. “This is not supposed to be a long-term solution, but breathing room for a problem identified.”
Zalewski said a clause in the moratorium resolution allows applicants who think they are aggrieved to appeal. He stressed the clause is an essential component to apply due process and prevent a lawsuit.
Some residents expressed their support of the moratorium, but many voiced frustration that the measure would do nothing to stop the hyperscale data center project planned by Verrus. The company’s CEO, Nelson Abramson, said he understood that not everyone agreed with the project, but that the company planned to be a good neighbor and generate $44 million for the township over time.
Trustee Sean O’Neil noted the township didn’t have the power to rewind the clock and change the current circumstances.
“We aren’t magicians and don’t have a time machine,” he said. “We are doing the best we can do at this point.”
Supervisor John Dolan said the planning commission will now begin an immediate review of ordinances that, according to the resolution, will address environmental impacts including “water, energy, noise, and light pollution, of modern data processing centers, and to create regulations for these facilities, focusing on community well-being, buffering, impact on utilities and other infrastructure, and responsible planning.”During the meeting, the township board added amendments to the moratorium to also address construction noise, non-disclosure agreements, master plan alignment, zoning issues, large land use, decommissioning restoration bonds, hyperscale as compared to regular scale, fire safety in terms of battery storage, generator use, school setbacks, environmental reviews by third parties, reviews by the state of Michigan, and any conflicts of interest.”That’s a hefty list of things to be studied,” O’Neil said. “It’s optimistic to think this could all be done in six months, but that is the deadline that has been proposed. I don’t think anyone up here objects to extending it if there is a need.”
Contact reporter Susan Bromley at sbromley@hometownlife.com
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Lyon Township board passes moratorium on new hyperscale data centers
Reporting by Susan Bromley, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
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