“We Ought to Be Ready”: Communities Start Preparing for Data Centers

Public backlash killed a proposed data center in Kalkaska County last fall before the project ever got off the ground. However, it’s not likely to be the last such facility proposed in northern Michigan, with The New York Times  reporting this week on the race for land among tech companies who are projected to spend half a trillion dollars on data centers in 2026 alone. Local communities are starting to prepare for that inevitability, with both Garfield and East Bay townships eyeing zoning updates to address such projects.

The planning commissions of both townships discussed data centers at their most recent meetings. Garfield Township currently allows data centers as a use by right in its industrial districts (they’re not allowed in other districts). However, Township Planning Director John Sych said the zoning ordinance doesn’t contemplate data centers of the “intensity” or “scale” as those now being built, some of which cover more than a million square feet. A use by right means a data center in Garfield Township would typically go through an administrative or staff review, giving planning commissioners little say over the project.

Given the “huge rise” in artificial intelligence and demand for data centers, Sych said the township “might want to rethink that” approach. Many communities now at least require special use permits (SUPs) for data centers, Sych said. SUPs typically apply to uses that could have unique impacts on the community, like noise or traffic – examples range from drive-thru businesses to daycares – and come with a set of standards developers must meet to obtain township approval. Such projects would go to the planning commission to review, not just staff.

Sych said data centers pose unique challenges including resource consumption that can be “quite intense,” like power and water usage. “The scale can be very big, and they can grow in size,” he said. Decommissioning is also a significant issue. While data centers are often massive in nature now, they will likely become more efficient over time and could require less square footage or building capacity in the future. Without decommissioning requirements, communities could get stuck with abandoned sprawling facilities, Sych said.

“We’ve seen that happen on the commercial side with big-box (store) development,” he said. “What happens to those (facilities) when they go vacant?”

Sych said even if a large-scale data center doesn’t come to Garfield Township, it could still see a smaller-scale development. He cited as an example Amazon’s construction of a distribution warehouse in Blair Township that’s smaller than facilities it has elsewhere but nonetheless remains a sizable local project. “At some point we will probably be impacted by this,” he said. Sych suggested staff and planning commissioners work together to update the zoning ordinance to shift data centers “from a use by right to a special use permit, but with some added provisions. I don’t think it’ll be hard for us to put together.”

Planning Commissioner John Racine was supportive of that approach, with the planning commission likely to review language at an upcoming meeting and also discuss the topic further in a joint meeting with the township board. “I think it's a good idea to figure out how to plan for these things,” said Racine. “Whether they're coming or not coming, who knows, but if they do we ought to be ready and not in the reactive mode.”

East Bay Township planning commissioners expressed similar sentiments at their meeting this month. East Bay’s zoning ordinance does not specifically “call out data centers as a use permitted in any district,” Township Director of Planning & Zoning Claire Karner tells The Ticker. However, a “case could be made that they could be considered a use similar to those listed in the Industrial District,” meaning an applicant could make the argument a data center is allowed in that zone.

To better clarify what the township does and doesn’t allow – and to create a set of definitions and standards under a special review process similar to that being considered by Garfield Township – East Bay could update its ordinance. Industrial districts are likely the most appropriate location for data centers, Karner says. She notes that East Bay has 260 acres of vacant land zoned for industrial uses, four parcels of which alone total over 200 acres. That land is largely centered around the Hammond Road area. Some natural constraints accompany those sites, Karner told the planning commission, including power supply access and environmental limitations from the Mitchell Creek watershed. Still, creating zoning standards now could give the township more control over where and how data centers operate should any come forward.

Karner listed several examples of requirements other communities have imposed on data centers. Those include requiring environmental impact assessments, traffic and noise studies, dimensional requirements, and decommissioning plans. In response to a planning commission question about banning data centers outright, Karner cautioned that such an approach is legally tenuous. Court precedent generally requires allowing land uses that are meeting a need, she said, with communities having the power to regulate such facilities rather than completely prohibit them.

Karner said that whatever language Garfield Township develops for its zoning ordinance would “probably be transferable to East Bay.” Planning commissioners agreed and expressed support for Karner working on a set of proposed standards in tandem with those being developed in Garfield Township, which would then come to township officials in the coming months for approval.