Planning commission discusses data center moratorium
Osmer says the county has little say over local unites
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ALPENA -- County Administrator Jesse Osmer told those attending the Alpena County Planning Commission on Thursday that the county planning commission would have "its hands tied" if a data center would ever move into the region. He explained that local municipalities (i.e. cities and townships) would have the final say.
He stated that the Alpena Board of Commissioners are already in the process of approving a resolution regarding data centers though Alpena County has not been approached by a company to build one in the area.
"We don’t know of any facilities that are coming up here anytime soon, but with that being said, we obviously know what they’re looking for," he said. "We would be prime real estate for that. Obviously we have concerns."
"I want to give you a little bit of peace of mind by letting you know the board of commissioners is looking at a resolution," Osmer added. "We’re just kind of crossing our T's and dotting our I's on that. It's been in the works for two months now."
Community members gave public comment during the meeting on Thursday urging board members to vote on a data center moratorium. A moratorium is a temporary stop or delay to a specific action or legal activity, according to Merriam-Webster.
Board members informed community members that though the county planning commission can give recommendations, it has no power over a vote.
"We are not elected commissioners, we do not have any vote on anything," Board Member Michelle Smith said. "The townships ... they send us what they're doing and we get to review it. We can make remarks and comments. We can make suggestions, we can weigh in on it. We can't say we don't agree or we do agree."
Osmer explained that townships enforce their own ordinances, planning development, zoning, et cetera. In the case of a data center, it would be up to the local municipality to set procedures. If a data center company was looking at county land to develop, the county and company would have to comply with whichever municipality it falls under.
He added that in the case of county owned property or in a situation where county property would have to be rezoned, then the county would have an "advisory role only though the coordinating zoning committee."
"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."
He explained that the county can draft a "nice letter" making 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.'"
Board members discussed the possibility of adding language about a data center moratorium in the county master plan. Osmer said that each individual municipality would have to also add language for a data center moratorium.
Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.