A moratorium on data centers is in effect in Taylor for the next year.
City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, Jan. 20, to impose the moratorium on applications, permits or site plans to give city officials time to review the Master Plan and existing ordinances to protect residents from the potential impacts of data centers.
“Our ordinances were never written with these developments in mind,” Councilman Gerald Thomas said.
No developer has approached the city with a data center proposal, but communities around southeast Michigan and the nation have been approached causing concerns in many about demands on the utilities and potential noise pollution environmental impacts.
Mayor Tim Woolley said city officials looked at a similar moratorium in Northville that its City Council unanimously approved it earlier this month.
“We want to make sure our ducks are all in a row. We want to make sure we have protections in place,” Woolley said after the meeting.
Data centers are warehouses of computing equipment used to power the internet. Proposals to build them have skyrocketed as tech companies move toward artificial intelligence.
In neighboring Allen Park, a standing-room-only audience at a Jan. 8 Planning Commission meeting was skeptical of Solstice Data’s assertions that its proposed data center would not create air or noise pollution or place demands on the water or electrical systems.
Solstice is seeking permission for a 26-megawatt, 45,000 square-foot facility on Enterprise Drive, south of I-94. It would be an “edge” data center, much smaller than others proposed in southeast Michigan, that would serve the immediate needs of a variety of local clients.
The commission postponed its site plan review and asked for additional information from fire officials and more studies on potential noise impact.
Some activists say studies show data centers create a loud humming noise created by the systems needed to keep the heat-generating servers cool.
Solstice is seeking permission for a 26-megawatt, 45,000 square-foot facility on Enterprise Drive, south of I-94. It would be an “edge” data center, much smaller than others proposed in southeast Michigan, that would serve the immediate needs of a variety of local clients.
Big Tech’s fast-expanding plans for data centers are running into stiff community opposition
Allen Park Planning Commission postpones data center review, requests more information
