Considering a one-year moratorium on data centers, battery storage facilities

The City of Portage is considering a one-year moratorium on all new data center and battery energy storage system (bess) facility developments until officials are able to review potential impacts, as well as zoning rules and ordinances. City leaders say the move is proactive, but follows similar projects being proposed in communities surrounding Kalamazoo and across Michigan. The proposed moratorium could last up to 12 months if approved. Peter Dame, chief development officer for the City of Portage, said the city council decided it needed to evaluate if current ordinances properly protect the city from data centers and battery storage system type developments during its annual goal-setting session at the end of 2025. "In researching the options for amending our city code, we decided that as a proactive measure, we should recommend a temporary moratorium for those types of uses in the Portage area," Dame said. "Until such time as the city can adopt any changes in the regulations that might be necessary to protect the community from that type of development." Portage officials told News Channel that at this time the city has not received any applications for either type of facility, however, recent proposals in surrounding townships largely prompted the discussion to get ahead of the issue, according to Dame. "We have an opportunity to evaluate what we need to do to make sure the city is protected," Dame said. "Concerns that people have about these types of developments are they’re very large, but they don’t have a lot of employees,” Dame said. “Noise, vibration, proximity to residential areas, depletion of water resources and impact on environment are kind of the big ones.” Placement of any kind of large industrial facility within a city like Portage would come with limitations as is, according to Dame, including size and location. “This type of use in a city would be regulated already and would typically be steered into an industrial zoned area,” Dame said. Dame added that city officials will also be looking at whether current industrial zoning includes protections specific to this "unique type of development." This consideration comes at a time when the city is already in the middle of a grander zoning rewrite, according to Dame. "We’re starting with the residential code and we haven’t yet started the commercial code, but this will likely get wrapped into the commercial code rezoning project that we have underway.” He said the city's goal is to finish the entire zoning project by the end of this year. At this point, the planning commission will hold a public hearing. Dame said everyone is invited to speak to share their own research, comments and concerns. That public hearing is set for Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. Then, the final step in the process for establishing a moratorium will occur on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m., when the city council will read the ordinance and take a vote on whether to officially prohibit any applications for data centers or battery systems for up to one year. While Portage considers restrictions, a new economic analysis from Anderson Economic Group, commissioned by Consumers Energy, points to potential benefits of data centers in Michigan. https://wwmt.com/news/local/portage-considers-one-year-moratorium-data-centers-battery-energy-storage-systems-bess-facilities-development-michigan-wwmt _______________ Stay up to date with our social media: WWMT on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwmtnews WWMT on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wwmtnews Subscribe to WWMT on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAYwomlsmN0DsPeeumEKFXg/?sub_confirmation=1 WWMT Daily News Digest: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-oNVYSgKM8IBYJOY5M-p37vKcILekLNz For more information, visit https://www.wwmt.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: desk@wwmt.com Call the Newsroom: 800.875.3333 WWMT is a MI based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. #WWMT #NEWSCHANNEL3 #Kalamazoo #Michigan #AbigailTaylor #Datacenters #AI #Infrastructure #Batterystorage #BESS #Portage #Government #Development #Economy #enviornment