Proposed data center draws pushback from Washington Township residents

A planned data center in Washington Township, Michigan, is still in limbo.

Earlier this month, the township board of trustees asked the planning commission to review a zoning ordinance that would relate to data centers.

More than a dozen passionate Washington Township residents stood on a bridge near 26 Mile Road to raise awareness about a proposed data center on Sunday.

"We're very concerned about the environmental impacts the large amount of water that it uses, the air pollution that often comes from them, as well as the high amount of electricity that it uses," Corinne Graper, Stop the Washington Township Data Center group member, said.

Although site plans have yet to be submitted, the initial proposal heard in December was for a hyperscale data center on more than 300 acres of land near 32 Mile Road between Michigan Highway 53 and Powell Road.

"We are hoping that they will put noise and lighting regulations in place, that they will put regulations around energy use and water, as well as ensuring that this massive development can't be built and then not complete it," Graper said.

For some people, the conflict is personal.

"I'm actually going to be living a half a mile away from the proposed data center," Chris Djuric, a Washington Township resident, said. 

Djuric is ready to move into the home he's been building for his family for the last five years in the spring.

"As soon as we move in, if they approve it, I'm going to be listing my house for sale, because it for me, is not worth the health risk, you know, because I, as a responsible parent, I'm not going to let my children live that close to something with these unknown health risks," he said.

Djuric won't without ordinances and regulations in place.

"I'm not opposed to the technology, obviously, but there has to be some type of reasonable restrictions as far as health and safety, you know, for the community," he said.

The planning commission has a meeting scheduled for March 12. Group members of Stop the Washington Township Data Center say they'll be there.

The developer, Prologis, is asking the township to rezone the land, making it an Industrial-Research zoning district. 

The proposed data center is scheduled for consideration during an April 9 planning commission meeting.