Eagle Township reviews draft utility-scale energy zoning ahead of state rules

Eagle Township officials and planning commissioners met Aug. 27, 2024, at Eagle Township Hall to review draft utility-scale energy ordinances intended to align local zoning with Michigan’s forthcoming state laws.

Supervisor Troy Stroud presided over the special joint meeting of the Eagle Township Board and Planning Commission, which received an overview and discussed how the township zoning ordinance could operate “in tandem” with Public Act 233 and Public Act 234 regarding large-scale wind, solar and energy storage projects. The minutes state the acts will take effect Nov. 29, 2024.

The discussion focused on the relationship between the draft local ordinance and the state-level acts, and how township zoning could be structured to address regulation of large-scale renewable generation and energy storage. The minutes do not record a formal vote on changes to the zoning language or specify who presented the overview.

The meeting record lists Foster Swift attorney Michael Homier among attendees, and later in the agenda the board authorized Foster Swift to provide legal opinions on township territory and other topics (see separate item). The minutes do not include specific draft ordinance text, proposed standards, setbacks, permitting timelines or financial provisions; those details were not specified in the record.

The board did not adopt the ordinance at the Aug. 27 meeting; the minutes show the discussion as an informational review tied to the Nov. 29 effective date of the state acts. Next procedural steps — including whether a public hearing, ordinance readings or a formal adoption timeline will follow — were not specified in the minutes.