BAY CITY, Mich - Most people don’t spend much time thinking about data centers. Unless, of course, their entire life is being uprooted by one.
Across the country, communities have found themselves debating massive facilities that consume large amounts of electricity, operate around the clock and can occupy hundreds of thousands of square feet. By the time residents hear about them, the conversation often revolves around a single question: can the city even regulate something like this?
Bay City is trying to make sure that question never has to be asked.
Next month, the Bay City Planning Commission will begin discussing a proposed ordinance that would establish the city’s first regulations specifically for data centers. The meeting is scheduled for August 19th, and while no data center has been proposed in Bay City, officials say they want the rules in place before one ever is.
At first glance, it may seem like an odd priority. Why write regulations for an industry that doesn’t exist here?
The answer is surprisingly simple: Bay City doesn’t want Big Data to catch it with its pants down.
Until recently, Bay City’s zoning ordinance didn’t specifically address data centers. A large data-processing facility could potentially fit within existing industrial zoning regulations without standards tailored to the unique issues these projects can present. Earlier this year, city officials concluded that wasn’t good enough. Rather than waiting for the first proposal to expose gaps in the ordinance, they decided to create a dedicated set of rules.
That decision became even more apparent during the city’s broader zoning rewrite.
As Planning Commission members worked through a comprehensive overhaul of Bay City’s zoning ordinance, they intentionally pulled data centers out of the larger document. Commissioners agreed the subject deserved its own discussion instead of being folded into hundreds of pages of unrelated zoning changes. The result is a standalone ordinance that will receive its own public review before any future project could be considered.
That may not sound exciting, but it represents an important difference in how cities plan. And I bet there are a few Michigan cities I won’t name that wish they had taken this step.
Too often, local governments don’t begin writing rules until a developer is already standing at the podium with a proposal. Residents scramble to understand unfamiliar technology. Officials rush to study ordinances from other communities. Public meetings become debates over a project rather than discussions about what the rules should be.
Exactly what those rules will include remains to be seen but communities across Michigan and the country have wrestled with many of the same issues that we likely will: Where should facilities this large be allowed? How should nearby neighborhoods be protected from noise generated by cooling equipment and backup generators? Should additional landscaping or setbacks be required? What kind of public review should accompany projects that can represent hundreds of millions of dollars in investment?
Data centers have become one of the fastest-growing forms of industrial development in the country as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence continues to rise. Michigan has also taken steps to make itself more competitive for these projects through state policy, prompting communities to evaluate whether their local ordinances are prepared for an industry that barely existed when many zoning codes were written.
That doesn’t mean Bay City is about to land a hyperscale campus. It doesn’t even mean a developer has expressed interest. Thank God. But that’s precisely the point.
Planning works best before there’s a crisis, before there’s controversy and before the first application lands on a meeting agenda. Residents often complain that local governments react instead of plan. In this case, Bay City appears to be doing the opposite.
Whether you ultimately support or oppose the idea of data centers, the conversation about how they should fit into Bay City will likely begin long before any company asks to build one. The first step happens on August 19.
If you care about how the city grows—or simply want to understand the kinds of development officials believe could eventually reach Bay County—that meeting may be worth watching.
