VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Van Buren Township is considering a proposal from Panatonni to build a massive data center on 282 acres near I-94 and Haggerty Road, sparking fierce opposition from residents who packed a township board meeting to voice their concerns.
The proposed facility would span roughly half of the 282-acre site and generate one gigawatt of power. While not on the official meeting agenda Tuesday night, the project dominated discussion as dozens of residents expressed frustration and fear about the development.
Watch Brett Kast's video report below:
Tracy Osborne, who lives near the proposed site, said he has many questions about how the facility might affect his family, particularly his daughter who has special needs.
"It puts you in a position where well, is that going to affect my family?" Osborne said. "Am I going to hear this hum at all hours of the day and night?"
Adam Kramer, head of data centers for Panatonni, said the company has been working with the community to address concerns. He emphasized that the project would limit truck traffic and would hardly be visible from the road.
"We've been talking to the community, understanding what they want and what they don't," Kramer said. "We've been very conscious about making sure this is the lowest impact project possible, while being a benefit to the community."
The project represents Panatonni's first data center venture in Michigan and comes amid a wave of data center proposals across the state. Many have faced resident opposition, including with a protest Tuesday outside the state Capitol in Lansing. However, Kramer argued their Van Buren Township project is different from others.
"A lot of these data center projects are going through rezoning where they're taking agricultural land and rezoning it to become industrial for data centers," Kramer said. "What we did was the opposite. We went out and found industrial land that was zoned for data center by right, which means the township's master plan said this is where we want data centers and that's where we're putting a data center."
Related video: Data center opponents protest at Michigan Capitol and call for moratorium
Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara explained that Van Buren Township already hosts one of Michigan's largest data centers, but acknowledged that current projects are much bigger than previous developments. He said the township's hands are tied by existing zoning laws that specifically allowed data centers on the proposed site.
"When we were looking at this two years ago, we liked data centers at that time," McNamara said. "I can guarantee you this board would probably vote, if we had a vote now, to have a moratorium on data centers until we understand them better. But that doesn't mean we can stop the one that's coming."
Related video: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel questions redacted DTE data center contracts in Saline Township
Developers could not reveal which company the data center would serve, but confirmed it is a Fortune 50 company.
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