Potential Data Center Proposal Divides Lenox Township Residents
A secretive potential data center campus in Lenox Township, Michigan, has divided residents despite no formal project application being submitted. Residents have demanded answers at township meetings, launched recall efforts against local officials and expressed concerns about a proposed 750-acre campus promoted through anonymous and dark-money campaigns.
Residents of Lenox Township, north of Detroit, are opposing a potential 750-acre data center campus that has not been formally proposed or publicly tied to a developer. An anonymous website and postcards from a Lansing-based dark-money group have fueled speculation, while local officials say they have received no official plans and know little more than residents do.
Emails indicate that a real estate broker previously asked the township supervisor to support a data center, and developers' attorneys allegedly pressured officials to adopt favorable rules while remaining anonymous. Residents have packed township meetings, pursued recall petitions and issued threats against officials, creating a highly contentious local debate over a project that remains unofficial.