Kalamazoo officially has a data center moratorium
The moratorium, which lasts until October 5, 2027, includes data centers, battery energy storage systems (BESS), cryptocurrency mining centers and artificial intelligence data centers. Monday night’s meeting included the final public hearing on the ordinance before commissioners voted to approve it.
Over their last few meetings, Kalamazoo City Commissioners have been working to incorporate the city’s existing moratorium on data centers and related developments into its zoning ordinance. During Monday night’s meeting, commissioners unanimously approved the zoning ordinance.
The moratorium, which lasts until October 5, 2027, includes data centers, battery energy storage systems (BESS), cryptocurrency mining centers and artificial intelligence data centers. Monday night’s meeting included the final public hearing on the ordinance before commissioners voted to approve it.
The process began during the City Commission’s August 17 meeting when residents spoke for hours in favor of the potential moratorium that was on the agenda that evening. The agenda report for that meeting cited an increase in proposed data centers and BESS in Kalamazoo County and across southwest Michigan.
The local debate heated up when Harbor Farmz, a Kalamazoo-based cannabis company, announced it was selling its facility at 2839 Full Circle Dr. and marketed the property for potential redevelopment as a data center. At that meeting, representatives from Harbor Farmz urged commissioners not to adopt the moratorium. The initial moratorium was unanimously approved about four and a half hours into that meeting, and was scheduled to last until August 16, 2027.
Commissioners then decided to incorporate the moratorium into the city’s zoning ordinance. The planning commission first tackled the issue during its September 3 meeting and recommended approval of the proposed zoning ordinance amendment. The planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the zoning ordinance, and the creation of a task force to help develop permanent data center regulations.
Then came Monday night’s decision to approve the zoning ordinance. The ordinance goes into effect 10 days after its formal approval by the commission.
The one-year moratorium will act as a temporary stopgap while permanent regulations are developed. If permanent regulations are adopted before the one-year moratorium expires, they would replace the moratorium. If permanent regulations are not ready before it expires, the moratorium could be extended, city staff outlined at a previous meeting.
Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.
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