Wayne County commissioners voted to override County Executive Warren Evans' veto and approve a tax incentive and community benefits package for a proposed Google data center in Van Buren Township. While the move is not final approval or an overall decision, it's a step forward for the more than $2 billion project.
The project would transform roughly 280 acres of land along Haggerty Road. On Thursday, commissioners also approved the project's DTE energy contract, and the county tax incentive package received final approval after the board overruled Evans' veto.
For weeks, neighbors have watched the land begin its transformation and voiced concerns about environmental impacts, noise, traffic, and falling property values.
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"The way how this has already impacted our community is pretty insane because it's not even here yet," Chris Hort said. “It almost feels like an invasion.”
Hort lives directly across the street from the site and opposes the project primarily over environmental concerns.
"Don't ruin the lake, don't ruin the wildlife, don't ruin what we have here," Hort said. “It used to be a bunch of trees, a lot of wildlife.”
Down the road, Robert Pollard echoed those concerns.
"All the animals that were over there, now they're gone," Pollard said.
Theresa Parent raised additional issues she fears will come with the data center.
"The traffic, the sound, our bills going up, our house depreciating, that's huge," Parent said.
Earlier this year, Van Buren Township awarded the project $125 million in tax incentives. Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara said the incentive deal was the best way to address resident concerns and negotiate with the developer.
"Our zoning ordinance doesn't make them build berms. It doesn't make them put up sound walls and wildlife corridors and things like that, so we end up getting a less impactful facility on our community and yes, the trade off is the taxes," McNamara said.
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners had also voted to approve tax incentives, but Evans vetoed that decision, citing outstanding concerns and saying the vote was rushed. The board then overruled the veto on Thursday, arguing the project will provide jobs, fund county-wide projects, and lower local residents' water bills.
"At the end of the day we have to make a determination. We've got to stand strong as a commission. If we don't stand strong as a commission, folks keep stepping on you," Wayne County Commissioner Allen R. Wilson said before the vote.
Residents closest to the project said they remain opposed.
"We don't want it," Parent said.
In response to the override of his veto, Evans said his same concerns remain, but there are check and balances for a reason.
"My job is to do what I think is best for Wayne County and its residents. The Commission I assume did what they thought was best. Now, we as a County must come together and make it work," Evans said.
The Van Buren Township Planning Commission is expected to review the final site plan at its meeting on October 14.
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