Local officials across Washtenaw County are increasingly calling for more time before major data center projects move forward, saying communities need more information about possible effects on land use, water, traffic, roads and nearby neighborhoods.
At the county level, that concern is now formal. On March 18, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution supporting local municipalities “for enacting data center moratoriums” and commending the county’s Resiliency Office for leading collaboration with local governments. Washtenaw County Commissioner Jason Maciejewski, who represents District 1, proposed an amendment during that discussion.
Maciejewski said local governments need time to understand what these projects could mean before more decisions are made.
“There really just needs to be a pause so that local governments can gain full understanding of what data centers are and what they could mean for a community,” he said. “I really feel that we need to press the pause button to get all of the information we can about this, and for local governments to make some decisions and not be rushed into things that have pretty substantial consequences.”
Beth Gibbons, director of the Washtenaw County Resiliency Office, said residents and local officials have raised repeated questions about transparency, energy demand, water use, noise and how quickly information reaches communities. She also pointed to light pollution, large-scale ground disturbance and long-term accountability as issues drawing concern.
Those concerns are playing out in different ways across the county.
In Saline Township, officials are dealing with a large project already under development. In Ypsilanti Township, officials are opposing a separate proposal tied to the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory. In Augusta Township, a proposed $1 billion project near Milan has added to the broader debate over jobs, taxes and local impact.
Saline Township offers one example of why officials say they want more time.
In September 2025, the township board denied a rezoning request for a major data center project along US-12. Two days later, the developers sued. The case ended in an October 2025 consent judgment that allows the project to move forward under a long list of conditions related to water and sewer service, road improvements, setbacks, noise standards, decommissioning requirements, tax-abatement cooperation and financial contributions tied to farmland preservation, community projects and area fire departments.
Township records show project-related issues remained part of regular public discussion early this year.
At its Feb. 11 meeting, the Saline Township Board discussed truck traffic, mud on US-12, monitoring wells, onsite water and sewer approvals, batch plant operations and plans to hire or consult a noise expert. The same meeting minutes also note discussion of “a potential moratorium to be put in place,” with further discussion expected in March.
A week earlier, on Feb. 3, the Saline Township Planning Commission directed township planner Carl Auerbach to draft a six-month industrial zoning moratorium, with a possible extension, for review at the commission’s next meeting. Those minutes also show residents raising concerns about how the Related Digital conditional rezoning had been reviewed.
Ypsilanti Township is facing a different proposal.
In February, U-M President Domenico Grasso told the university’s Board of Regents that U-M, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the state of Michigan were reviewing two potential Ypsilanti Township sites for what he called a “world-class supercomputing research center.”
By the end of March, Ypsilanti Township had taken a formal position against the project.
Resolution 2026-05 shows the township board approved a resolution March 31 strongly opposing any Los Alamos facility in the township. The resolution says the proposed facility is incompatible with the township’s existing land uses and describes it as a “clear and present danger” to local infrastructure. It also directs the township clerk to send the resolution to county, state and federal officials, including the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, and ask each to say whether they support the township’s position.
The meeting shows that concern had become central by the time the board adopted the resolution. In one part of the meeting, officials said they were first told about “20 acres on the corner of Bridge and Textile, two office buildings, 200 employees,” and later came to view the project as something much larger.
The debate is not limited to Saline and Ypsilanti.
In Augusta Township, trustees approved rezoning 522.2 acres last summer for a proposed $1 billion data center near Milan, while the rest of the more than 800-acre site was already zoned general industrial. Supporters pointed to jobs, tax revenue and possible utility improvements. Opponents raised concerns about noise, industrialization and whether the project fit the township’s master plan.
For Maciejewski, the need for a pause comes down to how quickly the issue is moving.
“The data center issue is really fast moving,” he said. “There’s really a lack of information about what’s involved.”
Featured image: Construction equipment is seen at the Related Digital data center site in Saline Township. Photo by Heather Finch
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