Saginaw Township trustees are scheduled to vote tonight on a 15-page ordinance setting zoning and operating requirements for data centers. The seven-member board meets at 5:30 p.m. at Saginaw Township Hall, 4980 Shattuck. No company has filed plans to build a data center in the township, which has 40,000 residents.
The township began researching data center development in February 2026, according to Bill Schutt, the township's director of community development, in a report from MLive.com. Schutt said the township has no known pending data center applications.
The proposal would amend the township code to define data center types by power consumption. Most facilities would need special use permits, while medium-scale and hyperscale projects would be limited to a stretch of Tittabawassee Road between North Center and Mackinaw roads, MLive reports.
Noise Limits, Setbacks, and Water Rules
Before construction, developers would have to provide an environmental impact assessment, noise mitigation and decommissioning plans, an emergency response plan and a hazardous materials plan. They would also need written confirmation from an energy provider that a project would not increase electricity rates for other township customers. Medium-scale and hyperscale proposals would require traffic studies, according to the report.
The draft would set a 40-decibel limit measured at the property line and require buildings and equipment to be at least 500 feet from residential property and 250 feet from non-residential property. Generator testing would be limited to weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Water-cooling systems would have to use closed-loop or recycled water, the report notes.
Developers would have to notify residents and property owners within a half-mile of a proposed facility and hold two community meetings before construction. Operators would conduct annual noise studies for at least five years after a facility opens. Schutt described the proposal as one of the tougher municipal ordinances of its kind, MLive reports; the township reviewed a sample ordinance from the Michigan Township Association while developing its rules. About 30 people attended a public hearing. If trustees approve the measure tonight, it would take effect Nov. 16.
Saginaw City Set a Precedent Without a Project, Too
Saginaw Township is not the only local government to set data center rules before a project was proposed. Saginaw City Council approved a related ordinance in September 2026, when no data center plans were on the table, according to MLive.
The local debate is unfolding alongside state tax incentives and community opposition. Michigan lawmakers passed tax breaks for large data centers in 2024, and the Legislature exempted qualifying facilities from the state's 6% sales and use tax that year, according to Bridge Michigan. The outlet reports that at least 30 Michigan communities have enacted data center moratoriums and that an estimated 70 or more commercial data centers are operating statewide.
State Incentives and Electricity Protections
The Michigan Legislature’s Senate-passed analysis says eligibility for the enterprise data center tax exemption requires at least $250 million in aggregate capital investment and at least 30 qualified new Michigan jobs paying 150% or more of the prosperity region median wage. Those state tax criteria are separate from Saginaw Township’s proposed zoning rules, according to the Michigan Legislature. A separate utility case offers an example of how regulators have addressed concerns about who pays for a large data center’s electricity costs. The Michigan Public Service Commission said its Oct. 1, 2026, approval of special DTE Electric contracts for a Google data center in Van Buren Township included protections intended to keep other customers from bearing the project’s costs. That decision concerns a different project, not Saginaw Township.
Conflicting Views on Costs and Benefits
Data center developments have sparked local resistance movements across Michigan and elsewhere, with opponents raising concerns about artificial intelligence and the environmental impacts of energy- and water-intensive facilities, per the MLive report. Defenders, meanwhile, view the tax incentives as a way to harness AI development and address the state's legacy-industry struggles and stagnant population growth, and the topic has figured prominently on the 2026 election campaign trail.
One concern that has drawn particular scrutiny is noise. A June 2026 report from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan found that standing local noise ordinances are likely insufficient to protect residents from data center noise pollution, and the group recommended that local governments require a full-spectrum sound study during a project's design phase. Bridge Michigan has also reported that MSU researcher Erik Nordman found current increases in Michigan residential electricity rates are not related to data centers.
Saginaw Township's approach also tracks with a similar debate playing out elsewhere in the state. On Nov. 6, Haring Township's planning commission approved amendments to a proposed ordinance regulating data centers and digital mining facilities, according to the Cadillac News. That township increased its proposed minimum lot size for data centers from 20 acres to 100 acres, limited the facilities to one industrial district requiring a special land use permit, and expanded setbacks from 250 feet to 500 feet while mandating use of municipal water and sewer infrastructure.
