Kalamazoo’s Environmental Concerns Committee recommended the city form an ad hoc committee, including its own members, to help shape new data center zoning rules.
The Kalamazoo Environmental Concerns Committee voted August 19 to recommend the city form an ad hoc committee, with committee representation included, to help develop new zoning regulations for data centers, following the City Commission’s August 17 vote to adopt a one-year moratorium on new data center, battery storage and cryptocurrency mining applications.
Committee members praised the moratorium but said they wanted the city’s follow-up to go beyond a staff-only review. Rachel Jondle said she preferred a broader ad hoc committee involving residents, energy-sector representatives and outside expertise, rather than leaving the work solely to city planning staff, noting the issue “does involve the energy sector” and “a lot of different sectors.” She said she expected the process would take longer than the three-month staff review timeline she described as having been discussed, and that the Environmental Concerns Committee should have a seat at the table.
Vice Chair John Eric Kreuzer pointed to the City of Portage as a model, noting Portage’s Planning Commission adopted a new “Technology Campus” zoning district, following a public hearing, to specifically define and regulate data centers and related technology uses, including building height and location restrictions. He said he would try to connect a Portage zoning official with the committee to present at a future meeting.
Chair David Benac supported the ad hoc approach, saying he wanted to avoid what he called “a complete dog and pony show” like a recent county event he characterized as one-sided promotion of data center development, and said any committee should include genuine citizen involvement alongside technical experts.
Sustainability Planner Justin Gish cautioned the committee against treating the moratorium as a finished win, noting that data centers alone don’t account for most local emissions and urging the committee to think more broadly about energy production and use as it engages with the issue going forward.
The committee also discussed hosting its own public educational session on data centers, potentially including outside experts, separate from the ad hoc committee process.
