Overview:

- Meta is behind a proposed Howell Township data center, trustee Bob Wilson tells Michigan Advance.
- The township board voted in favor of a six-month moratorium on data center applications.
- Members of Stop the Data Centers Livingston County say the pending data center proposal will nevertheless be decided at a Dec. 8 township meeting.

by BEN SOLIS and JON KING
Michigan Advance

As plans and announcements for new AI data centers proliferate across Michigan, a Howell Township trustee is telling people that the parent company for Facebook and Instagram is behind another project planned on more than 1,000 acres of agricultural land.

Bob Wilson, a member of the Howell Township Board of Trustees, confirmed with Michigan Advance on Thursday that Meta was pushing the project. But Wilson said he and members of the board have known about the development for months now. 

Messages seeking comment from Meta’s public affairs and press office were not returned at the time of publication.

In September, Wilson took to Facebook, ironically, to say that he was one of several people in the Howell area who took a bus to New Albany, Ohio, to tour the community, which has become a hotspot for data centers, the Livingston Post reported. 

Meta has a data center in New Albany, Ohio.

Wilson said then that he believed a Meta data center could possibly land at the facility when completed with a $9 billion investment. It was his estimation that the center, if approved, would take up at least 20% of the 1,000-acre space with the remaining space for the data center.

On Wednesday, the Livingston County Planning Commission heard from locals about a decision to rezone the farm land to build the data center. The commission ultimately rejected the project and recommended that the Howell Township Board of Trustees reject the project, as well.

The board met Thursday evening to discuss the project and unanimously voted in favor of a six-month moratorium on data center applications. However, members of the group Stop the Data Centers Livingston County say that the moratorium as passed does not apply to the current developer and that a Dec. 8 meeting of the Howell Township board will decide that project.

“The public overwhelmingly asked for a moratorium on rezoning applications to pause the current data center proposal. Instead, the attorney drafted a moratorium that only applies to site plan applications, a completely different stage in the process,” Breanne Green, one of the group’s leaders, told the Advance.

“Because of that narrow definition, the moratorium does not apply to the developer’s rezoning request. The developer is still allowed to move forward, and the Township Board can still approve the rezoning next month. This means the most consequential decision — whether to rezone hundreds of acres for a hyperscale data center — is not paused.”

Green noted that Trustee Tim Boal made a motion to expand the moratorium to include rezoning approvals, which she says would have aligned with the community’s request. However, Green said no one seconded his motion and it died without discussion.

“Technically, if the rezoning is approved, later steps such as site plans would be on hold under the moratorium — but the critical gateway decision remains fully open. In practice, residents asked for a hard pause across the board, and the board delivered the opposite. There is also concern that if the Township later amends its ordinances to require data centers to be located in Industrial zoning (as many communities do), developers could pursue legal action if they’ve already secured rezoning under the current rules. In short: the moratorium does not pause the current project. It only delays later stages, not the rezoning decision the public is most concerned about,” Green said.

MLive also reported Thursday that Wilson confirmed Meta was behind the project. Wilson further told MLive that he met with a Meta “land crew” both in person and over a Zoom call, and that they didn’t hide the ball that they worked for Meta.

In an interview with the Advance, Wilson said that it was possible the developer on the project would build the center and then sell it to a third-party, like Meta or others exploring AI, much like Google. He did say, however, that it was his understanding that Meta builds its own projects and doesn’t usually play the middle man. 

This story was updated with new details and comments following a vote by the Howell Township Board of Trustees.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

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The Michigan Advance is a hard-hitting, nonprofit news site covering politics and policy across the state. We feature in-depth stories, briefs and social media updates, as well as top-notch progressive commentary. The Advance is free of advertising and free to our readers. We wholeheartedly believe that journalists have the biggest impact by reporting close to home, explaining what’s happening in our state and communities — and why. Michigan has hundreds fewer reporters than just a couple decades ago. The result is too many stories falling through the cracks. The Advance is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. The Advance retains editorial independence.