A data-center moratorium was in effect through October 2026, and the Planning Commission recommended that the Township Board extend it by at least another three months.

Data centers require site-plan review before approval, expansion, or a change of use; medium-scale and hyperscale facilities and digital-mining businesses require special land-use approval.

Applications must include detailed site information, including proposed improvements, environmental features, adjacent zoning districts, and existing dwellings within one-half mile.

Applicants must provide preliminary evidence that the electrical provider has capacity and that existing infrastructure can support the proposed facility.

Applications must include a detailed acoustic study and noise-mitigation plan demonstrating a neutral impact on adjacent and nearby properties.

Applications must disclose stormwater, water-supply, and sewage arrangements, including capacities, water sources, discharge points, and stormwater facilities.

Applications must include a project-development timeline explaining how adjacent owners and community members will be informed about project status.

Applications must include a decommissioning plan covering removal or disposal of servers, hazardous materials, batteries, electronic waste, and related products.

Applicants must agree to periodic Township inspections and must provide an energy-impact analysis, water-usage disclosure, and fiscal-impact statement.

Applicants must submit an environmental impact assessment addressing land, water, wildlife, property values, traffic, public-service costs, waste disposal, nuisance impacts, community impacts, private utilities, air quality, and cumulative impacts.

Noise is limited to 60 dB(A) during the daytime and 45 dB(A) Lmax during nighttime hours from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., measured at the nearest residential dwelling and property line, with the more restrictive result applying.

If operations produce an audible steady pure tone, such as a whine, screech, or hum, the applicable maximum noise levels are reduced by 5 dB.

Cooling, ventilation, generators, and other operational equipment must be located inside an enclosed building or structure unless the Planning Commission waives the requirement after finding full enclosure mechanically infeasible.

Data-center buildings and related equipment generally must be at least 500 feet from residential and nonresidential property lines, and buildings must be at least 1,000 feet from residential structures; small-scale and accessory facilities instead follow the district's applicable setbacks.

Outdoor storage of data-center materials, equipment, and supplies is prohibited.

Hazardous-material storage or processing requires disclosure, safety procedures, regulatory compliance, required permits, and a minimum 500-foot separation from every lot line; outdoor hazardous-material activities must also be screened.

Data centers must minimize air and water pollution and comply with applicable state and federal requirements, with EGLE or EPA approval evidence provided to the Township upon request.

A Township stormwater permit is required, in addition to compliance with the Township Storm Water Ordinance and other applicable requirements.

Water-based cooling must use a closed-loop or recycled-water system; medium-scale and hyperscale facilities face additional restrictions on cooling methods, including a prohibition on open evaporative cooling towers unless specifically approved as part of special land-use approval.

Before building permits are issued, applicants must obtain written utility verification of adequate electrical capacity, safe peak-load operation, acceptable cooling-system impacts, and no harmful electrical interference or voltage fluctuations.

Applicants must fund electrical infrastructure improvements required by the utility provider and provide proof that the facility will not increase electricity costs for Township residents.

Data centers must comply with outdoor-lighting standards, may be required to install fencing approved by the Planning Commission, and must provide employee parking plus three visitor spaces unless the Commission allows one space per 100,000 square feet.

Data centers must submit emergency-response plans and use fire-resistant, electrically grounded, metal-encased equipment structures with specified fire-resistance and automatic fire-baffle features; battery storage must meet NFPA 855 or similar standards and include specialized fire suppression.

Facilities must post 24-hour emergency-contact information at each access entrance and may not create off-site nuisances from heat, glare, fumes, dust, noise, vibration, or odor.

Prefabricated or modular data centers, shipping containers, and similar temporary structures are prohibited; data-center uses must be housed in site-built buildings.

Decommissioning requires removal of equipment, removal of structures unless otherwise approved, environmental remediation, restoration suitable for redevelopment, and a financial guarantee such as a bond or escrow; financial assurances must be reviewed every five years.

Medium-scale and hyperscale facilities require at least 40 acres, a maximum height of 25 feet, a maximum building size of 200,000 square feet, and setbacks of 1,000 feet from residentially zoned property lines and 500 feet from nonresidential property lines.

Medium-scale and hyperscale applications require additional water-feasibility studies, public-water and sewer approvals, groundwater and surface-water analyses, stormwater-impact information, EGLE-review information, utility-capacity information, and proof of compliance with aviation requirements; private wells may not be used for general cooling or processing.

Medium-scale and hyperscale construction must occur in approved phases and within approved days and hours, may not occur before 6:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m., and is subject to special Township construction escrows covering review, inspections, monitoring, enforcement, and decommissioning.

Medium-scale and hyperscale facilities must connect to public water and sewer unless the Planning Commission approves alternatives based on demonstrated low water usage, and they must be located where adequate electrical, transportation, and other infrastructure already exists.

The Planning Commission may impose different or additional noise limits, measurement methods, operating hours, buffering, screening, setbacks, and monitoring conditions as part of medium-scale or hyperscale special-land-use approval.

Medium-scale and hyperscale facilities must provide additional residential-edge berms and landscaping, screen rooftop equipment on all four sides, and maintain publicly accessible cooling-system information with at least 72 hours' advance notice of flushing, conditioning, or major maintenance when practicable.

Generators at medium-scale and hyperscale facilities may operate for ongoing operations only during emergency supply disruptions; they may not be used for grid support, peak shaving, demand-response programs, or energy-market participation, and generator testing is limited to Planning Commission-approved times.

Dewatering during construction and operation of medium-scale or hyperscale facilities is prohibited unless specifically approved through special land-use approval.

Medium-scale and hyperscale owners or operators must maintain at least $5 million in general-liability coverage per occurrence and in the aggregate.

Medium-scale and hyperscale owners or operators must reimburse the Township for annual independent inspections and requested operational reports and may be required to provide additional bonds, security, or escrows.

Digital-mining operations must be enclosed, demonstrate through a professional engineer that they will not adversely affect neighboring electrical or internet services, may not operate in accessory buildings or temporary structures, and are limited to 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Colocation data centers are expressly permitted, although their owners and operators remain responsible for ensuring that tenants comply with zoning and other applicable laws.

Accessory data centers are authorized as an accessory use in the I-1 Industrial District when located on the same lot as the principal use and operated with all equipment inside an enclosed building.

Medium-scale and hyperscale data centers, as well as digital-mining businesses, may be approved as special land uses in the I-1 Industrial District, subject to the ordinance’s standards and Planning Commission approval.

The measure establishes a defined development framework for medium-scale and hyperscale facilities: a minimum 40-acre lot, maximum 25-foot building height, maximum 200,000-square-foot building, and specified setbacks of 1,000 feet from residential-zoned property lines and 500 feet from nonresidential property lines.

The Planning Commission may waive the requirement that cooling, ventilation, generator, and other operational equipment be enclosed when it finds that full enclosure is not mechanically feasible.

For a medium-scale or hyperscale facility that demonstrates low water usage, the Planning Commission may authorize alternative water and sewer facilities instead of requiring public water and sewer, if the ordinance and other laws are satisfied.

During special land use review, the Planning Commission may approve alternative or modified noise standards, measurement methods, operating hours, buffering, screening, setbacks, and monitoring requirements when justified by the facts and applicable special-land-use standards.

Open evaporative cooling towers are generally prohibited, but the Planning Commission may specifically permit them as part of special land use approval.

The Planning Commission may allow data centers to use an alternative parking standard of one space per 100,000 square feet of building area instead of one space per employee plus three visitor spaces.

The ordinance creates a site-plan-review pathway for data centers, while requiring special land use approval only where the zoning district or the ordinance otherwise requires it.