LANSING -- The Lansing City Council will consider a temporary moratorium on new data centers in the city.
A draft ordinance to set the moratorium is on the City Council's agenda for its meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 20, when it could be set it for a pubic hearing.
The proposal was submitted by Councilmember Ryan Kost, who said in a statement that he's working with Councilmember Deyanira Nevarez Martinez and "the city attorney's office to develop a robust set of guidelines, which will serve as a foundational element for crafting a sustainable solution."
The draft ordinance indicates that the city "is diligently studying its options with respect to the regulation of Data Centers through zoning." The ordinance, if passed, would prevent the city from issuing any building permits "nor process applications for zoning amendments, for any Data Center as a primary or accessory use" for 182 days after moratorium's effective date.
Kost was the first councilmember to publicly say that he intended to vote against a proposed data center in downtown Lansing. Deep Green, the United Kingdom-based company behind the $120 million project, withdrew its proposal on April 6, hours before council was set to vote.
During that meeting, Nevarez Martinez she had planned to vote against the project, and that she submitted a draft ordinance to the city attorney's office "that would prohibit data centers in commercial and downtown commercial districts, and require discretionary review in industrial districts."
Deep Green's proposed downtown data center had been pitched by the company, the Lansing Board of Water & Light, Mayor Andy Schor's administration and some in the business community as a positive and necessary step for the city.
However, many residents had pushed back for months, including during City Council meetings that included hours of public comment. The majority who voiced opposition told council they were concerned about the environmental impacts, a lack of transparency from BWL about power for the data center and questioned whether a data center was a good fit for the downtown area, among other issues.
"This endeavor has gained heightened importance following the significant community opposition observed in response to the most recent project," Kost said. "Recognizing that this will not be an isolated incident, and acknowledging that all industries require appropriate regulatory frameworks, I will be formally introducing the moratorium."
Deep Green had proposed building a two-story, 25,000-square-foot data center on four lots on Kalamazoo Street between Cedar and Larch streets, about two blocks south of the city's minor league baseball stadium. The project would have required a conditional rezoning and the sale of public land.