The Washington Township Board of Trustees has passed a temporary moratorium on the acceptance and review of data center applications, just days after a California-based company withdrew its application for a potential center in the township.
The moratorium, approved Wednesday, will be in effect for six months or until changes to the township’s zoning ordinance regarding data centers take effect ― whichever comes first. The planning commission is working on zoning ordinance amendments.
“Because the Planning Commission is working steadily towards the amendments’ completion, a temporary moratorium should be put in place to give our community time to adopt legal safeguards,” said Washington Township Clerk Audrey Brown.
Prologis, a San Francisco-based real estate company, proposed developing a technical campus on 312 acres south of 32 Mile, but withdrew its application in a May 19 letter to the township’s planning and zoning director.
The proposal faced significant pushback from some residents of Washington Township and neighboring communities, who have argued that a potential center would strain local infrastructure and shouldn’t be near where people live.
Corinne Graper, one of the leaders opposed to the proposal, said she is glad Washington Township passed a moratorium.
“We need to take the time to develop the best ordinances to regulate the environmental, health and noise impacts a data center can have on our community,” she said, adding that Prologis likely will come back with a proposal and “we need to be prepared.”
The Washington Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously in February to direct the township’s planning commission to review the provisions of the township’s zoning ordinance regarding the regulation of data centers and consider changes, if necessary. The commission will also conduct a public hearing on any proposed changes and provide a recommendation to the seven-member board for consideration.
The moratorium, passed by the board this week, is on the acceptance, processing, review, consideration or approval of any application, petition, or other zoning or development approval relating to a data center facility in the township.
Brown, the township clerk, said she wanted to put the moratorium in place after Prologis withdrew its application.
“If we had not put it in place, another applicant could have come in and given us a really horrible, horrible application, but without the zoning ordinance amendments in place … and then if we didn’t accept it, we could be sued,” she said.
Brown said she disagreed with the advice the township’s legal counsel had given her about moratoriums and did research on her own.
Washington Township Supervisor Sam Previti said in a Facebook post on Wednesday night that the temporary moratorium will give the township “the time needed to properly complete the draft and review zoning ordinances” that protect residents while “allowing thoughtful planning for the future,” he said.
Previti said he was “especially proud” of the township’s planning commission and consultants, who have been working “diligently” on the ordinance, which is expected to be presented later this summer.
“This legally enforceable tool gives residents the opportunity to have their voices heard while allowing the Township to carefully examine the issue and create the best long-term solution for our community,” he said.
Proposals for data centers, which are warehouses of computing equipment that are used to power the internet, have cropped up across Michigan. Prologis submitted a conditional rezoning application for the development of a technical campus and data center on over 312 acres of land in Washington Township in November, but withdrew those conditions in December.
Prologis then asked for a straight rezoning of the property ― making it an “Industrial – Research – Technology” zoning district. The district allows for industrial and research facilities.
The company withdrew that application earlier this week. An attorney representing Prologis said in a letter that the company will most likely “wait until the Township adopts its ordinance to proceed,” referring to the data center ordinance.
Washington Township is the latest Metro Detroit community to impose a data center moratorium. At least six — including Pontiac, Taylor, Northville and Springfield Township — have passed different measures to give officials time to review their community’s zoning ordinances and possibly amend them to limit where data centers can be located.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Washington Township passes six-month moratorium on data centers
Reporting by Anne Snabes, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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