Comstock Township has no data center applications, but its Planning Commission is drafting data center and solar rules during moratoria.
At its November 12 meeting, the commission worked from baseline sample ordinances. Staff described the data center moratorium as a one-year pause during which the township must work in good faith on the issue.
Data centers
The commission reviewed the application requirements for a special land use permit. Staff said a data center application would likely be large, and that applicants fund consultant review through an escrow, as the battery storage project did. They also said applications would include an emergency response plan subject to fire chief approval.
Staff said data centers are not covered by the state law that limits local control over certain renewable energy and battery projects. That leaves the township more room to regulate them. Commissioners asked drafters to add or consider:
- Sound: studies before and after construction, with ongoing monitoring.
- Water: a municipal water connection and a ban on evaporative cooling.
- Setbacks: distances starting from the battery storage ordinance, with the township’s definition of sensitive land uses applied. The definition covers schools, childcare, hospitals, long-term care facilities, parks and campgrounds, and dwellings. Commissioners said the industrial district’s standard setbacks would not work for these facilities.
- Ownership: language to prevent a project from being split across separate companies, a concern raised during the battery project.
- Community terms: a community benefit agreement and a minimum tax agreement.
- Power: whether data centers could be required to supply their own power, including some from renewable sources.
Commissioners also discussed whether to confine data centers to the industrial district or use an overlay district. They asked for buffers around lakes, streams and rivers.
Solar
Commissioners began discussing a solar ordinance while a moratorium on solar development continues. Staff noted that state law limits how far the township can regulate solar projects. A township can adopt its own ordinance, or have none and leave developers to apply to the state.
Commissioners asked drafters to include:
- Decommissioning security: financial security modeled on the battery storage ordinance, without a revocable letter of credit. They also asked for periodic review and annual reports.
- Storm damage: a timeline for repairing damaged installations.
- Screening: dense visual screening, using language from another township’s sample ordinance.
Commissioners also raised questions about whether farmland can return to production after a solar project is removed. Staff said they plan to invite university agriculture experts to brief the commission.
Next steps
Planning staff will prepare maps showing buffer distances and a tracked-changes draft for the commission to review. Staff said they have asked the county health department and a sound engineer to brief the commission, and are waiting to hear back.
