Overview
- The Planning Commission approved preliminary site plans in a 5-2 vote after a five-hour hearing, with officials citing the project as a use permitted under existing zoning.
- The roughly 280-acre campus includes three data-processing buildings, an office and network facility, and a seven-acre substation that will need separate site approval.
- Approval conditions require detailed Great Lakes Water Authority connection plans, a cap and metering for sewer discharge, recurring post-construction sound monitoring, construction mitigation, and a 200-foot buffer around an eagle nest.
- Developers and DTE said residential electric bills and water pressure would not be affected, with the facility drawing 2–3.6 million gallons per day from GLWA transmission lines rather than neighborhood distribution.
- Panattoni projects about 1,500 construction jobs, 50-plus permanent roles and top-tier taxpayer status, while residents object to the project’s scale, noise, wildlife impacts and the undisclosed Fortune 50 end user.