Linde Corporation’s data center application, the first in Wayne County, was rejected Sept. 9 by the Clinton Township supervisors. The long-awaited decision was met by approximately 30 seconds of thunderous applause and cheers from a crowd of an estimated excess of 100 people.
Attorney Michael Mey, counsel for the applicant, prior to the unanimous vote, registered his strong misgivings that the township had not heeded his request for a time extension to reply to the township engineer’s concerns, chiding the board for being “manifestly unfair” in not giving the applicant opportunity to address other points as well.
“I’m proud of the way they came together as a family. It tells a lot about this community. It truly did,” James Zefran of Clinton Township said of the outpouring of support from residents worried for their quality of life and the environment. He added that they had good legal counsel.
The Linde proposal galvanized area residents with anywhere from an estimated 100 to 200 people attending numerous township meetings for months and 12 hours of hearings about the project. Residents raised thousands of dollars to hire attorneys and signed petitions.
“Now we can sleep a little bit for a while,” Sharon Hadley of Browndale said afterward, sporting one of the yellow “no data center” T-shirts that have become common at the meetings. She said she would be very concerned about the project’s impact on the environment.
Linde’s proposed large-scale data center included 20 data storage server buildings and two gas-fired power plants on 758 acres of rural, wooded, former mining land, within a mile of Browndale.
Mick Jenkins, also wearing one of the yellow shirts, said he lives only three miles from the site. “I’m very happy. It’s a big win, but unfortunately there probably have to be more wins in the future to keep this at bay,” he said. “I worry about it affecting my property and community.”
Dave Hauenstein, a township laborer and resident, said about the data center, “I don’t think we need it; 99% of the township people don’t want it.”
The planning commission first unanimously voted to recommend denial of the application, having found Linde’s revised preliminary land development plan incomplete. Chairman Andrew Theobald made the motion, supported by Cathleen Anderson and Brad Bates (Joe Franceski Jr. recused himself). The audience responded with loud applause.
Next, the supervisors unanimously approved the subdivision and land development plan (SALDO) amendment concerning regulations specific to data centers, and applicable to future submissions. Once again, the audience reacted with loud applause and cheers. Interim Solicitor Ronald Bugaj recommended the amendment to protect the township, considering the lack of township zoning.
The decision came at the conclusion of the supervisors’ meeting, after less than 15 minutes of discussion.
Supervisor Chairman Ken Coles told the audience, “We as township supervisors heard you, we understand you, we get it,” asking to avoid repetitious comments that evening about data center concerns. After the vote, he added that the supervisors must act according to the law regardless of their personal feelings but rejected the plan because they agreed it did not meet the SALDO requirements.
Mey said he wished to make comments before the supervisors voted. He said that the deficiencies in the plan were not “fatal flaws” and could easily be corrected. Most importantly, he said, the Linde counsel asked for the chance to respond to the Aug. 31 letter from the township engineering firm, Kiley Associates, but did not have the opportunity to make corrections or address Kiley’s points.
Mey said the Linde counsel requested preliminary plan approval with conditions Linde would need to make. Their suggested conditions were outlined in a letter to the township’s solicitor, Mey said, and Linde has not asked for any waiver of SALDO positions.
In addition to replying to Kiley’s comments, Mey requested the chance to address issues over the project’s access to Route 247, and to receive a copy of the township’s state-required Act 537 sewage facilities plan to comment on it. He said that the planning commission had not located the 537 plan, and the state did not respond to Mey’s request for it.
Lastly Mey said he requested a delay of the vote to allow Linde to provide a “full, fair, clean record.” Otherwise, he said the township will continue to have an incomplete record.
Attorney Thomas Wyatt, one of the lawyers hired by the residents, said there is “absolutely nothing” to prevent Linde’s engineer from doing the work, and they did not need the township Act 537 plan, “because we know there’s no sewer in the middle of the woods.”
Loud applause and cheering followed the supervisors’ unanimous vote to disallow a time extension.
Coles asked Lou Cozza, project manager for Kiley Associates; the two attorneys hired by residents, Wyatt and Philip Davolos, Solicitor Bugaj, and objector Wendelin Brown, if the Linde application met the SALDO requirements. They each affirmed it did not.
Coles then made the fateful motion to reject the application. Applause started even before Supervisor Brian Non offered a second, and Supervisor Brad Bates voted in the affirmative.
Shortly after adjournment, Mey was asked what their next steps would be. “I have no idea, I have to speak with my client,” he said.
