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Waterford trustees introduce six‑month moratorium on data‑center approvals
Summary
The board introduced Ordinance 2026‑Z‑03, a six‑month township‑wide moratorium on data‑center approvals to give staff time to craft zoning standards; planning staff said no data‑center proposals currently exist and cited municipal water and infrastructure concerns.
Jeffrey Palkowski, the township’s director of development services, introduced a proposed six‑month moratorium (ordinance 2026‑Z‑03) on approvals for data centers and asked the board to place the measure on the agenda for potential adoption at the next meeting. “There are currently no proposals for a data center in Waterford Township,” Palkowski said, calling the ordinance a precautionary planning measure.
Palkowski told trustees that data centers can demand very large amounts of electricity and water for cooling and that Waterford operates on a municipal water system not connected to the Great Lakes Water Authority, making infrastructure capacity an important consideration. He said the planning commission reviewed the moratorium unanimously and recommended it be forwarded for board consideration.
A trustee moved to forward a favorable recommendation (case 26‑01‑03) and another trustee seconded. The motion was approved by roll call (all in favor). The introduction places the moratorium on the board’s next meeting agenda for possible adoption; Palkowski and staff said the pause will allow staff time to draft zoning standards to evaluate any future proposals.
If adopted, the moratorium would pause approvals for new data‑center applications township‑wide for six months while staff develops regulatory standards; Palkowski said the goal is not to prohibit data centers but to ensure clear evaluation criteria are in place.
