Data center developers hit pause on $1 billion Howell Township proposal: ‘The right thing to do now’

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The developers of a $1 billion data center in Howell Township withdrew a rezoning request for the project following months of pushback from residents concerned about the facility’s water use and impact on energy costs, among other issues.

The applicants are withdrawing the conditional rezoning application “after listening carefully to the community and giving this decision a great deal of thought,” according to a statement on the project’s Facebook page posted late Sunday.

“We believe the right thing to do now is to honor the current moratorium, which will give the township and its residents the time needed to develop thoughtful, well-considered regulations for any future data centers,” the Facebook post said. 

The Howell Township board passed a six-month moratorium on data center developments Nov. 20.

With the moratorium in place, the township could have voted on rezoning land, township attorney Christopher Patterson told Planet Detroit Monday — but the site plan for the data center couldn’t have moved forward unless the applicant requested a waiver.

The developers’ decision to withdraw the application comes ahead of Monday’s Howell Township board meeting, where a hearing on the data center and a rezoning vote were scheduled. The agenda items have been removed, according to a statement posted Monday afternoon on the township website.

The developers may return when the moratorium ends, Township Treasurer and Zoning Administrator Jonathan Hohenstein told Planet Detroit.

“‎The communication from the applicant makes it sound like once the regulations are complete, they will resubmit their application; time will tell,” Hohenstein said in a Monday email.

Howell Township resident Cory Alchin told Planet Detroit the developers’ decision to withdraw the application is a victory for his many neighbors who oppose the data center.

More work is needed to ensure that data center ordinances “protect the health and safety of the township and its residents,” he said. 

Howell Township resident: ‘We are setting a precedent’

The Howell Township project, from developers Stantec Consulting Michigan Inc. and Randee LLC, was planned for a 1,077-acre site of largely agricultural land north of I-96, roughly 54 miles from Detroit.

Stantec spokesperson Trevor Eckart declined to comment when asked whether the developer plans to move forward with the data center when the moratorium ends.

Ryan Van Gilder, whose family owns property within the footprint of the data center, did not respond to a request for comment.

Hundreds of residents attended a Sept. 23 Howell Township Planning Meeting that lasted for seven hours, with many raising concerns about potential impacts to water resources, electricity costs, and environmental impacts, WDIV reported.

Over 3,700 people signed a petition to “Stop the Construction of Michigan’s Largest Data Center in Howell” as of Monday morning. 

The Howell Township Planning Commission voted not to recommend rezoning land for the project on Sept. 23, and the Livingston County Planning Commission voted against it Nov. 19. The township board has final say over the rezoning decision.

Data centers’ often massive water and energy needs have stoked fears in other Michigan communities over how the facilities could harm drinking water wells, pass on costs to other electric ratepayers, and jeopardize state climate goals.

The facilities’ electricity demands risk triggering an “off ramp” provision in the state’s climate law, allowing fossil fuel generation to stay online if there’s a capacity shortage.

Howell Township Assessor and Deputy Supervisor Brent Kilpela said in a Sept. 4 email to property owner Van Gilder that the project “is like winning the Power Ball for the local municipalities. Roads could be paved etc.”

Kilpela previously told Planet Detroit the data center could increase tax revenue by a factor of six or seven. 

Township resident Alchin said people from 10 communities across the country have been in touch with Howell Township residents, sharing similar experiences of data center developers going into rural townships with ordinances that aren’t well designed and trying to rush through projects, Alchin said.

“We are setting a precedent for people to follow and have faith in, across the country,” Alchin said. “The key was that people kept showing up and kept showing up.”

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