Ypsilanti Township Plans More Action Against Proposed Los Alamos Facility

Ypsilanti Township officials said April 7 they are preparing additional action against the proposed University of Michigan-Los Alamos facility after the township board’s unanimous March 31 vote opposing the project anywhere in the township.

Approved minutes from the March 31 special meeting show the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 2026-05 after 19 public comments and six board member comments. The resolution declares “strong and unequivocal opposition” to siting a Los Alamos facility anywhere in Ypsilanti Township and replaces the township’s earlier position favoring the former Willow Run site.

The dispute is part of a broader conversation in Washtenaw County about data center development, local control and how large-scale projects could affect surrounding communities.

At the township board’s April 7 meeting, Township Attorney Wm. Douglas Winters said the township had sent the resolution to federal, state and county officials asking them to support the board’s position. He said the township may need another special meeting in the coming weeks to consider next steps.

During his report, Winters criticized elected officials for attending Ann Arbor’s Hash Bash while not publicly backing the township.

“If you didn’t see this, you probably would think we’re making this up,” Winters said.

Supervisor Brenda Stumbo said the township had held a Zoom meeting with a New Mexico contact she described as a resource and plans to send a mailing to residents because many people still do not know about the proposal. She also said township officials have been giving interviews and working on legal strategy.

“I’m terrified of what would happen if it comes here, so we can’t let it come here,” Stumbo said. “We will have a special meeting sooner than later.”

Stumbo also said some residents had asked whether they should sell their homes. Public comment at the April 7 meeting included additional opposition to the proposed facility and criticism of elected officials who speakers said had not spoken out strongly enough. One speaker specifically named State Sen. Jeff Irwin and several Washtenaw County commissioners.

The University of Michigan said April 3 that the township’s resolution does not change its position, timeline or ongoing review of possible sites. In a statement, U-M spokesperson Paul Corliss said the proposed facility is a large computing research center intended to support work in areas including medicine, climate science, energy and national security. He said it is not a nuclear weapons facility and would not involve the storage or handling of hazardous materials.

Corliss also said the university disputes the township’s description of the proposed project as a “Tier 1 High Value Target Risk” and will continue evaluating both the Willow Run site and the Textile Road property in Ypsilanti Township.

Los Alamos National Laboratory offered a similar response in a separate April 3 statement. Jennifer Talhelm, chief communications officer for the laboratory, said the proposed LANL-U-M center would have appropriate security, support academic and scientific innovation, and involve high-performance computing research only. She said it would not involve hazardous materials.

Township officials also said April 7 they are watching a separate state proposal they believe could limit local zoning authority, though that issue is separate from the Los Alamos proposal. The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners is next scheduled to meet April 15.