KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI — A township may change its zoning to allow data centers to be built — and concerned neighbors are banding together in opposition.
They fear a data center could cause harm to residents by taxing local utilities because of high water and electricity usage.
“We don’t know what type of data center would be moving in here,” said Katelyn Clarey, who lives in the area. “We don’t know who would own it, and who knows if we’d find out.”
The Pavilion Township Planning Commission will consider changing zoning ordinances to allow for data centers at a November meeting.
Pavilion Township is adjacent to Portage and just southeast of Kalamazoo.
The ordinance change, formally proposed in mid-September, would allow for data centers to be built on properties zoned as I-2, Industrial District.
Public backlash
Clarey is working with resident Bill Farmer to inform residents of the change.
Together, they launched a Facebook group to keep community members aware of the proposal. To date, it has amassed 70 members.
On Monday, Oct. 6, they held a meeting at Distant Whistle Brewhouse in Vicksburg to discuss the change. Roughly 16 people attended to share their concerns, Clarey said.
Clarey learned about the potential for a data center after reading a local news article. She asked if her parents, who also live in the area, had heard about a data center potentially coming to town.
They hadn’t.
“I want people to know what’s going on, and if people don’t want it, I want them to know how to speak up for themselves, how to make their voices heard, where to make it heard,” Clarey said.
A few dozen community members attended a Sept. 18 planning commission meeting to share their concerns about the ordinance change.
Township Supervisor John Speeter said they’ve received many calls about the ordinance change, but there’s a lot of “misinformation” circulating.
At the Sept. 18 meeting, the township’s attorney advised the board push the decision to a later date because there weren’t enough copies of the meeting agenda with the proposed ordinance language to distribute to attendees.
The proposed ordinance change is available at the township office upon request and can be viewed online here.
Farmer said he’s been in discussion with the property owner and Southwest Michigan First about hosting community meetings to inform residents. Residents are also getting in touch with experts to learn more about the impacts data centers can have on communities.
Speeter said the discussion on whether to approve the ordinance change was delayed until November to make time for the meetings.
Energy, water concerns
Real estate development firm Franklin Partners visited the township in August to discuss the possibility of a data center in the area. The firm is looking for uses for a property it owns on N Avenue near the intersection with South 26th Street, per township documents.
Franklin Partners couldn’t be reached for comment by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.
“Data centers, to me, are the tip of the spear of what some people call progress that I believe is actually destroying our environment,” Farmer said.
When Farmer and Clarey were collecting information for residents who wanted to stay informed at the Sept. 18 meeting, the property owner approached them, Farmer said, asking to be added to the information list.
Farmer has lived in his house on the border of Climax and Pavilion townships for 40 years. He’s no stranger to corporate businesses buying land and setting up large operations in the area, including a pair of large dairy farms on his road and a handful of small oil wells.
One of Cleary’s primary concerns is the energy impact a data center would have. She fears energy bills for residents would go up with a data center in the area.
Speeter said he was told by Consumers Energy that energy prices wouldn’t go up if a data center was built. The state regulates electricity prices through the Michigan Public Service Commission.
“Consumers Energy will be supplying the energy, it will be metered to that plant and the cost will not be passed on to residents,” Speeter said.
Speeter declined to comment on what benefits a data center could bring to the township.
If a data center was built at East N Avenue, it would connect to city of Kalamazoo water, Speeter said.
The proposed ordinance amendment requires the city of Kalamazoo to pre-determine there’s adequate public water and sewer capacity to meet the needs of the facility. The facility would be prohibited from using private well and septic systems.
A medium-sized data center can consume up to 110 million gallons of water per year, according to the Environmental and Energy Studies Institute (EEEI). A large data center can consume up to 5 million gallons a day.
Pavilion Township isn’t alone — multiple Michigan communities are facing incoming data center construction plans.
Farmer is also concerned about the lack of job growth data centers would bring to the township. Data centers require few employees because they primarily house computers and servers, according to the study.
“They do not bring high paying tech jobs like people think they do,” Farmer said, citing University of Michigan research.
“The jobs that data centers do create locally are typically low-wage, term-limited, non-technical positions such as security, maintenance and janitorial work,” the study found.
“Who does it really benefit?” Farmer said.
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