GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY- The Garfield Township Planning Commission voted Wednesday night to recommend a zoning amendment that would give the township board the power to freeze data center applications, as a crowd of hundreds filled the meeting room, spilled down the stairs and into the first-floor lobby.
The amendment, drafted by the township’s legal counsel, would add a new section to the zoning ordinance allowing the township board to impose a temporary moratorium by resolution on applications, permits, rezonings, licenses or approvals for any land use. An initial moratorium could last up to 12 months, with a possible six-month extension, for a maximum of 18 months.
No data center project was before the commission Wednesday, and chair Chris DeGood said so at the outset.
“But to be clear, there are no data centers on the agenda tonight,” DeGood told the crowd, explaining the procedure would allow the township to move forward with a moratorium related to data centers.
Roughly 40 people spoke during public comment. Not one opposed the moratorium, and many told commissioners it does not go far enough.
“A moratorium is not enough. We need an outright ban. We need to say no,” said Nicole Manby, a lifelong resident of the area.
Water dominated the comments. Kelly Clark, a Center Road resident who grew up on the bays, told commissioners the Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater. “It’s not a statistic. It’s a responsibility,” Clark said. “We don’t have the right to trade it, for a server farm that employs fewer people than a decent sized restaurant.”
Others questioned whether the township could police a data center at all.
“We don’t have the ability to even regulate and enforce outdoor lighting,” Garfield Township resident Kevin Summers said. “What makes you think that we can regulate a data center?”
Mitch Distin, a candidate for state representative in the 104th District, pointed to Saline Township downstate, which he said voted against a data center 5-1, was threatened with a lawsuit by Oracle and was ultimately forced to accept the project.
Speakers repeatedly cited that fight as a warning, urging townships to band together against potential legal challenges.
Traverse City Commissioner Mitchell Treadwell, speaking during public comment, said the location suggested for a data center sits in the Cass Road industrial area immediately adjacent to a Traverse City Light & Power substation.
He pressed for assurances that any industrial user would not raise rates for the city-owned utility’s customers or strain city water and sewer systems.
The interest is no longer hypothetical. In a report to the commission, the township board’s representative said public comment at a recent board meeting included a man from the Chicago area with a small data center proposal.
Township planning staff told commissioners Michigan’s Zoning Enabling Act contains no provision for moratoriums, which rest instead on case law, and that placing the procedure inside the zoning ordinance gives it greater strength than a standalone resolution.
Staff said the time limits are deliberate. “At some point, the moratorium has to cease,” or the township risks legal vulnerability.
Commissioner Steve Hannon said the township wants any decision “to be legally defensible, knowing that communities have had legal challenges with this.”
“This issue is still here. That’s why we want to do a moratorium on data centers,” Hannon said. “This is one piece to the puzzle.”
The commission has been studying data center regulations since January, when it directed staff to shift data centers from permitted uses to special use permits.
The amendment now heads to the township board for a second public hearing.
If adopted, the ordinance would take effect seven days after publication, and only then could the board pass a resolution imposing an actual moratorium.
“We do look forward to your continued input as we engage in the consideration of this data center issue,” DeGood said.