Saline City Council passed a temporary moratorium on the construction of data centers within city limits at the Jan. 12 meeting. The moratorium will stand for one year from the date of its passing to allow council members and the community to consider the long-term impact data centers could have on the area.
“Given what Saline township has experienced, I think this is a wise move moving forward to protect ourselves from over development in data centers,” council member Jim Dell’Orco said. “But I also think it gives us an opportunity to look more into the support systems and the support businesses around the data center, the battery storage facilities, construction and the alternative energy, windmill technologies, solar panels, all of that could generate potential interest in business industrial parks in the same community, and we might want to be mindful of having an eye on how those businesses are going to impact our community.”
The moratorium states that data centers may not be approved, considered or accepted for review during the time of the moratorium. It also states that inn the following year, city staff “shall proceed with efforts to study the relevant state of the law, and shall present to the City Council a proposed plan for amending the Zoning Ordinance, or the code of ordinances, or any combination thereof, with respect to applicants for data centers as deemed appropriate.”
“The goal is to bring ordinance language forward within that 365 day or one-year timeframe,” City Manager Dan Swallow said. “In theory, it could also be extended, but you have to show that you’ve made progress towards adopting regulations or adopting zoning ordinance amendments within that time frame.”
The moratorium was passed unanimously.
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