Ypsilanti City Council votes in support of YCUA data center moratorium
Ypsilanti City Council formally supported a 12-month moratorium by the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA) on providing water and sewer services to data centers. This action follows YCUA's earlier passage of the moratorium and a separate emergency zoning moratorium enacted by the City Council. The council also voted unanimously to amend language regarding state tax incentives for data centers.
At a meeting on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the Ypsilanti City Council unanimously passed a resolution formally supporting a 12-month moratorium on providing water and sewer services to hyper-scale data centers, mid-sized data centers, artificial intelligence computing facilities, and high-performance computational centers. This moratorium was initially passed by the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA) in late April, halting water and sewage services pending further due diligence investigations.
The YCUA's decision to enact the moratorium was prompted by a resolution request from the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees. Council Member Amber Fellows, Ward 3, had also proactively engaged YCUA to request the drafting of the resolution, emphasizing the council's strong interest in the issue and a desire for formal collaboration.
The City Council's resolution included an amendment to its original language. Initially, it suggested that state tax incentives for data centers adversely impacted local tax revenues. The revised language now states that the city will explore how, if at all, these incentives affect local tax revenues. This is not the first time Ypsilanti has paused data center development; in March, the council issued an emergency zoning moratorium to allow more time for reviewing and amending city zoning laws pertaining to such facilities.