Overnight Update: The Howell Township Planning Commission voted just after 2:30 a.m. to recommend to deny re-zoning the land for a controversial data center.
Watch Ryan Marshall's live report from the 6 a.m. show
That vote came after hundreds of people voiced their opinions well into the night. The now-rejected data center would have been the largest of its kind in Michigan. The massive site would have covered more than 1,000 acres.
Last night's meeting was actually relocated from Howell Township Hall to Howell High School due to the sheer number of people who had strong opinions on the proposal.
There were plans to use over 1,000 acres of private farm land to build a brand new data center.
While some supported a data center coming to Howell, most were passionately against it.
“A data center like this can put 1000 constructions jobs rather than bringing them from out of state you can have the jobs in the community right here," said James Shaw, IBEW Local 17 Member.
"The hypocrisy that i have seen tonight from these people blows my mind to think about it," said retired veteran Terran Frye. "To even think about seeing the debates on Facebook. They don’t want a data center. But yet, here they’re using the data center.”
Most attendees were against bringing a data center to Howell, and were concerned about potential noise, pollution and an excess water and electricity strain.
“99 percent of us. I think there were two or three people who wanted…who were for it. and, there were like 500, 600 people in there. I don’t know how many," said Howell resident Patricia Murphy.
“I wasn’t sure of what to expect. But, as answers started to be developed, it just didn’t look like a good fit for the Howell community," said resident Aaron Currie.
In January, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer approved a tax exemption for data centers to attract tech giants to the state. While it’s not yet clear who would be moving into the property, some residents are strongly opposing the idea.
Most of the data center — roughly 1,000 acres or about 2 square miles — would be on the Van Gilder family farm property.
On the agenda was the decision to rezone the massive area to make it compatible for such a project. The area is owned by the Van Gilder family, who owns large farm properties in the state.
An unnamed U.S. Fortune 100 Company would move onto the property with a new data center.
The main concern residents have is that a data center of that size could be noisy, cause pollution and require a lot of water and electricity.
“What I can tell you is the bigger they are, the louder they are, the more they consume. And what you propose is a very large data center, so just be aware of that. It would consume that of a small city," Webberville resident Gary Burtka said.
The project is expected to bring in thousands of jobs and that’s something union member and local resident James Shaw says he can get behind.
“A data center like this can put 1,000 constructions jobs out there rather than bringing people in from other states to do that work. You can do it right here with the community that we’re in,” said Shaw, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 17.
However, most residents still have a lot of questions and concerns that the peaceful life they live will be turned upside down by a large corporation moving in.
“I just found out about it. I really haven’t had much of an opportunity to address it further,” said Howell Township resident Margarte Campbell, who opposes the idea.
The planning commission meeting ended around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, with community members voicing their opinions during public comment for approximately eight hours.
We're awaiting to see what actually comes next in this entire process after the committee's recommendation. But for now, it's safe to say most people were pleased with the outcome.
