"Residents in Saline Township, Michigan, however, thought they had avoided the drama after their township board and planning commission both voted to decline a 21 million square foot data center in their backyard. It was exactly what Saline's 2,883-some residents wanted. Unfortunately for them, the data center developer soon sued the tiny township, Fortune reported, which was ultimately bullied into accepting the $16 billion development."
"Back in September, Saline's planning commission rejected the request to rezone 575 acres of farmland for the data center, proposed by the company Related Digital, a subsidiary of a real estate conglomerate owned by billionaire Steven Roth (who's been in the news lately for other reasons.) Two days later, Related Digital filed suit, alleging the township had practice "exclusionary zoning.""
"The local officials were up against the wall: a lengthy legal battle risked depleting the township's coffers, and even if they won in court - an unlikely proposition - Related Digital could have forced the data center anyway by partnering with the University of Michigan, which can bypass local zoning laws. The township soon settled, signing an agreement allowing the project to proceed."
"Later in October, it was revealed that the data center would be primarily leased to Sam Altman's OpenAI and Larry Ellison's Oracle, as part of Donald Trump's $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative, dubbed "Stargate." "I'm not sure there were any good solutions," Fred Lucas, the township's attorney told Fortune. "If you polled everyone on the township board, they would have said the same thing: they didn'"
A proposed 21 million square foot data center in Saline Township, Michigan, faced local resistance and was initially rejected by the township board and planning commission. The developer, Related Digital, sued the township after rezoning was denied, alleging exclusionary zoning. The township faced financial risk from a lengthy legal battle and the possibility that the developer could still proceed by partnering with the University of Michigan to bypass local zoning. The township settled and agreed to allow the project to move forward. The development was later reported to be primarily leased to OpenAI and Oracle as part of a broader AI infrastructure initiative called “Stargate.”
Read at Futurism
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]