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More than 100 people packed Wednesday’s meeting of the Garfield Township Planning Commission to show support for a possible data center moratorium.
The commission made an official recommendation to the township board to amend the zoning ordinance to allow moratoriums broadly — and it isn’t specific to data centers.
Under the township’s current zoning ordinance, data centers are considered “permitted by right” and only require administrative approval.
There are no proposals for data centers in the township, according to commission chair Chris DeGood who made the clarification at the beginning of the meeting. An Illinois-based developer brought up a possible plan for one at a previous township board meeting and sparked social media attention ahead of Wednesday’s commission meeting.
Public comment lasted nearly two hours. All comments related to the moratorium were in opposition to data centers, including concerns about their environmental impact, economic value and energy use.
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Water was a concern for many residents, as data centers can use large amounts to cool down servers.
“When you grow up close to freshwater, you don't take it for granted. You understand in your bones that what we have here is rare, and that it requires protection,” said Nancy Smith from Traverse City.
Some said a temporary moratorium isn’t enough, and called for an outright ban.
“Limiting the data center in our township isn't going to cause world collapse, and AI goes away, but it's one voice that we can have,” said Shannon DeBruyn from Peninsula Township. “We have an opportunity to raise our hand to say no by enacting the moratorium and by seeking ways to ban it entirely.”
Garfield Township is the latest community in northern Michigan to wade into growing conversations around temporary bans on data centers.
The state is already home to about 75 of such centers, which house computer servers underpinning the internet.
None of those are large "hyperscale" data centers which power artificial intelligence models. But such a center is under development in southeast Michigan, and the specter of more has prompted local officials across the state to issue temporary bans on any development.
Moratoriums aren’t included in the state law that regulates local zoning, said John Sych, township planning director. That’s why making moratoriums part of the zoning ordinance is stronger than enacting them through a standalone ordinance or resolution, as other townships have done.
“We want to ensure that we have not just a quick reaction to put something on the books, but we want to make sure that it is enforceable going forward,” Sych said.
This amendment isn’t just about data centers, and requires imagining “the things we don’t know in the future,” Commissioner Cara Eule said after public comment.
And she was pleased to see the community turn out for the meeting.
“Somebody mentioned this is not a partisan issue, everyone is kind of on the same page. That’s rare in this day and age,” she said. “So thank you for validating the work we’re doing and we’re gonna stick with this.”
Traverse City resident Asa Woodruff agreed.
“Issues like this can unify people who are on different ends of the spectrum,” Woodruff told IPR. “And something like this is core to humanity, we can put these things aside and say ‘This is an issue.’”
The amendment now goes to the Garfield Township Board for vote, which is likely at the end of August, Sych said.
A specific moratorium on data centers could be introduced at a later planning commission meeting.
