The Vote That Sparked an Uproar

The Lowell Township Board of Trustees voted 2-5 Monday night to reject a six-month moratorium on data center development, triggering immediate booing from the audience and calls for the recall of board members who opposed the pause.

The vote came as Microsoft is considering building a $1 billion hyperscale data center campus at the Covenant Business Park, a 237-acre industrial parcel bordered by Cascade Road and I-96.

"This is our community. We're here. We're letting you know that we do not want this (data center) to move forward," Betsy Lopez-Wagner with the opposition group Residents United for a Healthy Lowell said during public comment.

Who Voted Which Way

Only two board members supported the moratorium:

• Monica Burtt, Township Clerk
• Ronda Benedict, Treasurer

The five remaining board members voted against the pause. Trustee Andy Vander Ziel, who cast one of the no votes, said the township should take a measured approach.

"I am not a subject matter expert," Vander Ziel said. "We need to bring those people in around us, 'phone a friend,' so to speak. We need to be able to be open to have those conversations. I couldn't agree more with setting a committee up to talk through this."

The board voted to form a committee to draft a future data center ordinance instead of imposing the moratorium.

What Is the Microsoft Proposal?

Microsoft has expressed interest in acquiring land at the Covenant Business Park to develop a data center campus. The company voluntarily paused its rezone application in December 2025 after facing resident pushback.

No formal site plan has been submitted since.

Microsoft told Michigan Public the company is committed to responsible development.

"We are focused on making sure our presence adds value and respects local priorities, and we look forward to continued collaboration with township officials and community members as we listen and refine our application to reflect those priorities," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

The company has not disclosed whether the planned facility would be used for cloud computing or artificial intelligence. That uncertainty has fueled concerns about how much energy and water the development would consume.

What Residents Are Demanding

Residents United for a Healthy Lowell had lobbied for the township to impose a moratorium on new data center proposals since the beginning of 2026. The group describes itself as "a group of community members working together in care and concern for the health of our community, local environment, natural resources, and sustainable energy future."

Jessica Mazarka told board members she was willing to help develop a committee of experts to put guardrails in place for the potential Microsoft project.

"Look out into this audience," Mazarka said. "You have an audience full of people who are willing to help you in this fight. Would you not like to be known as the township that fought back against the data center and won?"

When the moratorium proposal failed, some meeting attendees booed and called for the recall of board members who voted against it.

The Bigger Picture

Lowell Township's rejection of the moratorium stands in contrast to other Michigan municipalities taking action on data centers. Meridian Township, east of Lansing, adopted a six-month moratorium on data center development just one day after Lowell's vote.

Michigan continues to attract data center developers because of its cool climate and freshwater resources. Communities are weighing the high water and energy consumption these facilities demand against the jobs and investment they could bring.

At an informational meeting in Lowell Township in March, Lauren Snyder, senior vice president at Consumers Energy, said data centers would help reduce electricity rates.

"Here's the deal. Data centers will help reduce rates. (Microsoft is) actually going to pay a higher rate than other customers. And because they are a part of the overall energy system, they are going to reduce rates," Snyder said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel raised concerns at a roundtable Thursday that data centers could raise electric costs for nearby residents. Nessel said candidates running for office should present concrete plans for addressing data center impacts and AI regulation.

What Happens Next

The newly formed township committee will work to draft a data center ordinance. Microsoft has said it intends to continue communicating with the community before proceeding with the project.

Residents who called for recall have not yet filed any formal petitions. Michigan law requires recall petitions to gather signatures from at least 10 percent of voters who participated in the last election for the affected office.

The Covenant Business Park property is currently owned by the Barnabas Foundation, an Illinois-based nonprofit. The land is zoned I-PUD, or Industrial Planned Unit Development. A 425 Agreement approved in 2024 would allow the City of Lowell to provide water and sewer services to the site once new utility agreements are finalized.