Brockway Twp data center draft ordinance in progress

Moratorium expires in November

BROCKWAY TWP. — With Brockway Township’s one-year moratorium on data centers set to expire in November, township officials and legal counsel are authoring a draft ordinance to outline where and how data centers may operate within the township.

The language within the ordinance is subject to change and, ultimately, board adoption.

Brockway’s draft ordinance, obtained by The Expositor, would limit data centers to about 300 acres of agriculturally zoned land in the township’s southeast corner: east of M-19, north of M-136, and south of Wilkes Road.

This area completely overlaps those for large-scale solar energy facilities and wind energy conversion systems.

The township board publicly opposes data center development within the township.

“I don’t want any of these facilities in Brockway Township,” wrote Supervisor Bill McMurtrie, addressing comments surrounding the topic. 

Under state zoning rules, devising such an ordinance is the furthest step a township can take to govern local data center development, until or unless further action is taken at the state level. Michigan’s Zoning and Enabling Act plays a significant role in what Brockway can do, as it includes a provision that prohibits exclusionary zoning.

That means, “Any township can’t just say, ‘We’re not allowing data centers in our community,’” said Brian Connolly, an attorney and assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Business.

With data centers being a legal use of land, local governments must make provision for them within their communities, Connolly said. 

Any applicant with plans for a data center in Brockway must, under these draft rules, meet environmental compliance, provide a site plan with proof of land ownership, and lay out a plan to decommission the plant, should it become necessary. 

Developers must provide details about acreage, wattage capacity, and studies detailing temporary and permanent job creation associated with the development, and the development’s economic impact. 

The ordinance includes requirements addressing light pollution, visual compatibility with surrounding properties, screening by evergreens or native vegetation, and detailed noise constraints.

Under the draft, data centers would be prohibited from exceeding 40 decibels measured at an adjacent property.

It is unclear how strict these rules are compared to other townships, or how developers may view them. Questions about the strength of ordinance rules could not be answered.

Catherine Mullhaupp, staff attorney at the Michigan Townships Association, instead pointed to a township’s authority in guiding its own character.

The question townships can answer is more about “what is the character of the community now, and what do we propose it will be going forward,” Mullhaupp said.

“You are able, under planning and zoning, to have a certain character,” she added.

— Max Kappel is a Report for America corps member, covering local government and agriculture for The Yale Expositor in Yale, Michigan. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions. Reach out to him at max@yaleexpositor.com with tips, or just to say hi.