While proposals have emerged in the Michigan Legislature to regulate data centers, some local communities are taking it upon themselves to manage future development through passing new zoning ordinances. Two of these local governments are Clark Township in Mackinac County and the city of Saginaw.
The Saginaw City Council passed their 10-page ordinance in late September, which amended the city’s zoning code to add requirements for data center projects. These requirements include reports on how much water the facility will consume and how much demand the facility will have for electric and natural gas utility services. Applicants must also conduct a noise study.
The ordinance also requires data center applicants hold at least two public meetings to describe the project. Every data center must also be at least 500 feet away from residential districts.
Carly Rose Hammond is a member of the Saginaw City Council and was outspoken on her support of the new data center regulations.
“We had to get those protections quickly, because I saw that the wind was blowing towards a potential issue with data centers coming in in a predatory fashion on communities that were not prepared to fight back against a multibillion-dollar corporation,” Hammond said.
There are no active data center proposals in Saginaw. Hammond said it was important for the city to make regulations so that any future proposals will have to follow them.
A recent study by Michigan State University found that out of 1,000 Michiganders surveyed, only 11% supported the idea of a data center being developed in their community. Over half of participants believed local governments should have the final say in issuing permits for data centers.
In the legislature, some lawmakers have proposed statewide regulations on data centers.
The proposed bipartisan Data Center Regulation Act, or House Bill No. 5594, would enact a statewide data center moratorium until April 2027. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Government Operations in February and has been there since.
A coalition of Democrats proposed House Bills 6135-6142 in June. The bills set regulations for the facilities rather than a moratorium.
State Rep. Joey Andrews, D-St. Joseph, a co-sponsor of the House bill package, told Michigan Public Radio that a moratorium is not the right avenue, arguing it would stall development and growth that the state "desperately" needs.
"I would just say, we’ve got the guardrail bills, they’re in good shape, we can get this done and we should just get it done," Andrews said.
Michigan Senate Democrats also proposed data center regulations back in June through Senate bills 1046-1051. They are currently sitting in the Senate Energy and Environment committee.
State Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, introduced legislation in June for moratorium on new data centers. Earlier this month, he blamed the stalling of the bill on Senate Democrats.
"The Democrat majority controls the committees. The Democrat majority controls the calendar. The Democrat majority owns the death of this bill," Runestad said.
Hammond said that while she believes in local control for many issues, she thinks regulating data centers should be a conversation between all levels of government. She has not seen that happening yet, she said.
“You're supposed to tap dance with a multibillion-dollar corporation about the legalities of a multibillion-dollar facility going in. It's not a fair fight,” Hammond said of local governments having to navigate data center regulation alone.
Earlier this year, on Aug. 19, Clark Township in Mackinac County passed an ordinance that set regulations for data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities.
The ordinance regulates the noise level, water usage, electrical infrastructure standards, and requires centers to be at least 1,000 feet away from Lake Huron. It also requires the facilities to acquire special land use permits and be in industrial districts only.
Mark Clymer is the supervisor of Clark Township. He said the regulations are important to hold projects responsible and mitigate impact on the community.
“Anytime you come in to a small community with limited resources, a data center of any size is going to require additional fire department, police department, sewer, water, electricity,” Clymer said. “And then the possibility of an environmental impact.”
Clymer said he is skeptical of the state's potential involvement in data center regulation.
“Unfortunately, if the state gets involved, as often as not, they'll actually support the data center in a way that will be averse to the local community,” Clymer said. “At least that's the way a lot of infrastructure projects have gone right now.”
Similar to Saginaw, Clark Township has not had any active proposals for a data center. Clymer said the ordinance was an effort to get ahead of potential future applications.
Hammond said that other communities around the country have reached out to request a copy of their ordinance.
“This framework is a start of our regulatory journey with data centers,” Hammond said, “So as more information comes out and as more communities develop and adopt regulatory ordinances like Saginaw's, we'll be able to see what we're missing.”
Clymer said part of the problem that communities have in creating ordinances is that the issue of data centers is “a new thing and it's happening faster than government can adapt to it.”
“There isn't any case law so far. So, there aren't statutes to work on,” Clymer said. “And consequently, when you ask the township attorney to review things or to write something, they don't have much to work with.”
Clark Township passed a moratorium on data centers and crypto mining operations in 2025. Similarly, Saginaw passed a moratorium earlier this year, which is active through the remainder of 2026.
“Moratoriums are important because it says we're not going to allow any of this business type to move into the city temporarily while we develop regulations,” Hammond said.
Hammond said that she is open to the creation of data centers in her community as long as they follow the newly outlined regulations.
“It takes work up front to make sure that if you have any kind of developer doing work in your city, they're there to be partners,” Hammond said. “And we don't do that based off of trust and hopes and dreams. We do that by having good regulations on the books.”
Michigan Public Radio's Russ McNamara and Colin Jackson contributed reporting to this story.
