Attorneys sketch out Saline Township’s options in data center fight

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Roughly 80 residents showed up to a special meeting in Saline Township Wednesday night to discuss a developer’s lawsuit against the township over its decision not to rezone 575 acres of farmland for a large data center.

Township officials didn’t indicate how they would respond to the lawsuit filed Sept. 12 in Washtenaw County Circuit Court by Saline Township landowners and a LLC affiliated with the project’s developer, Related Digital.

Township attorney Fred Lucas told attendees the township could fight the lawsuit or pursue a settlement.

“We have been advised by the attorney representing the plaintiffs that this complaint may be amended at some point to include a claim for money damages,” Lucas said.

He added that one township in northern Michigan was recently ordered to pay $50 million in a zoning dispute. Lucas said this kind of outcome is “rare, but it’s not impossible.”

Related and the other plaintiffs allege Saline Township has engaged in exclusionary zoning, which it says occurs when “a community unreasonably excludes a legitimate land use.”

David Landry, a municipal law attorney and former Novi mayor, also addressed the meeting, and said it’s difficult to disprove exclusionary zoning “unless there’s a severe impact on your infrastructure.” 

Landry said he would represent the township on behalf of its insurer.

Many residents expressed opposition to the data center at a Sept. 10 board meeting, arguing it would bring noise, light pollution, traffic, and habitat loss as well as destroying farmland in the largely rural area. The township board voted down the rezoning 4-1 at that meeting.

Nadine Ghawi, who lives within a few miles of the project, said Wednesday night that a data center would drive up electricity costs and cause health issues, referencing a report from the University of Michigan Ford School of Science, Technology, and Public Policy.

That report found that data centers can lead to higher costs for ratepayers, and the facilities’ power demands can keep polluting fossil fuel power plants online.

The township won concessions from Related Digital, including promises to avoid a water-intensive system for cooling servers, and to purchase a decommissioning bond to cover the cost of tearing down the facility and returning the land to its previous condition if it’s taken out of use, Lucas previously told Planet Detroit.

He said Wednesday that if the township settles with the plaintiffs, these benefits could be contained in a consent judgement, which means a court could fine the parties or take other actions if they violate the judgement.

If the township fights the lawsuit and wins, Lucas said it would not preclude the property from changing from its present condition or even being developed as a data center at some point.

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