The Alpena County Board of Commissioners has adopted a resolution urging local governments across Northeast Michigan to enact ordinances restricting data center development.

Board Acts After Community Concerns

The vote took place at the board's monthly full board meeting in the Howard Male Conference Room in Alpena, with Commissioners Bill Peterson, John Kozlowski, Brenda Fournier, and Todd Britton among those pictured in attendance. County Administrator Jesse Osmer said commissioners had been approached by community members about a data center moratorium.

He noted that the county itself has little authority over such a pause, since the City of Alpena and area townships must set their own ordinances. "Speaking with the majority of you, I found that most of you were opposed (to data centers)," he said.

Jurisdiction Rests With Cities, Villages, and Townships

Osmer explained that the county's role is limited to encouraging local units of government to take particular stances on data centers and moratoriums.

"We ourselves cannot put much into place as far as any type of ordinances or anything like that," he said. Speaking in September, Osmer had outlined that townships enforce their own ordinances, planning, development, zoning and other matters. When it comes to a data center, it falls to the local unit of government to establish procedures.

Should a data center company look at county land for development, the county and the company would be required to comply with whichever municipality the land falls under.

If county-owned property were involved, or county property needed rezoning, the county would hold only an advisory role through the coordinating zoning committee, Osmer added. "Local cities, villages, and townships actually have the jurisdiction over planning zoning, site plan reviews, approvals, code enforcement related to data centers and their affiliated uses," Osmer said. "In accordance with their adopted plans, ordinances and procedures, the county does not have jurisdiction over planning development or approval for those data centers."

Given those constraints, Osmer said the county can only draft what he described as a "nice letter" offering recommendations to local municipalities.

"Because it's not really an ordinance or anything. It's a nice letter, basically, to the municipality, it asks, 'Please refrain from any action that would bring those facilities into our area anytime soon,'" he said.

Moratorium and Environmental Study Requests

Under the adopted resolution, local units of government are asked to adopt a moratorium on the planning, construction, permitting, or expansion of any data center.

The resolution further states that if a proposed data center comes to the area, a comprehensive study should be conducted to ensure the local ecosystem is protected from potential pollution and/or damage.

"It is in the best interest of Alpena County residents that any data center development occur within a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework that protects public resources, ensures transparency, and prevents unintended financial or environmental consequences," the resolution stated. Osmer said the resolution encourages local units of government, townships, and the City of Alpena to create systems that would allow for full transparency if a data center approaches a municipality in the area.

"I don't know of any data centers coming to the area, but basically putting on a pause and putting that framework into place in the coming months," Osmer said.

How the Resolution Defines Data Centers

The resolution defines a data center as a specialized facility that houses computing systems and stores large volumes of data.

It also points to the rapid national growth of cloud storage and artificial intelligence, which has increased demand on data center real estate.

Disclosure Requirements Highlighted

The resolution encourages transparency and public disclosure on data center projects. Among the considerations it lists are the source of electrical power for a facility, its anticipated water usage and protective measures, how electric utilities will meet increased energy demands, contractual protections, minimum usage requirements or exit provisions, and measures to ensure environmental compliance, equitable cost allocation, and meaningful community benefit.