Genoa Township trustees unanimously extended the township’s moratorium on new data center and cryptocurrency mining applications for another six months Monday, giving officials more time to collect baseline sound data and write noise regulations capable of being enforced.
The board approved two directly linked measures: up to $15,000 for ambient sound testing throughout the township, and the six-month extension needed to complete the study and incorporate its findings into the data center ordinance.
Township Manager Kelly VanMarter cited concern about whether the proposed noise provisions could be enforced as the reason additional time was needed.
“The restrictions related to or the provisions related to noise are really the direct impact associated with needing this additional time,” VanMarter said at the board meeting. “We did have an ordinance that was drafted and presented to the planning commission when the issue of enforceability related to the noise provisions came up. And so we’re asking for an additional 6 months so that we can conclude the investigation into the sound, and draft an ordinance that we know is defensible.”
The township imposed its original six-month moratorium in February to halt the submission, acceptance, processing and approval of new applications involving data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities.
The planning commission reviewed a preliminary data center ordinance in May. Afterward, a township resident who is a qualified sound engineer contacted township officials and raised concerns that provisions addressing low-frequency sound, low-decibel sound, and continuous hum would be difficult to enforce under real-world conditions.
The planning commission subsequently recommended an in-depth acoustical analysis before the ordinance moves forward.
The township board hired Rochester Hills-based Memtech Acoustics in June to review the ordinance framework and assist with drafting enforceable language at a cost not to exceed $4,500.
At that time, the board approved the first and third phases of Memtech’s four-phase proposal but deferred the second phase — collecting independent baseline sound measurements — with the expectation that future applicants could conduct and pay for testing at their proposed sites. Memtech later advised that those site-specific measurements would not provide the independent townshipwide baseline needed to develop defensible noise standards.
Township staff returned to the board Monday seeking up to $10,000 to collect baseline sound data at three locations: one industrial, one commercial, and one residential.
Board members questioned whether three testing locations would provide a sufficient baseline. Each additional site would cost approximately $1,600.
Following a broader discussion, the board increased the authorization from $10,000 to $15,000, giving township staff discretion to add more sites, if necessary.
The noise-study motion carried without a dissenting vote.
The testing will collect measurements over extended periods to account for differences between daytime and nighttime sound, and between weekdays and weekends.
Memtech said data centers, artificial intelligence computing facilities, and cryptocurrency mining operations can produce low-frequency and tonal noise that complies with conventional numerical limits while still generating sustained complaints from nearby residents.
“Infrasound and steady-state hum are rarely addressed in conventional ordinance language,” the company wrote in its proposal.
The company said an ordinance developed without data on existing sound conditions could impose limits already exceeded by lawful businesses or permit the noise the township is attempting to control.
The baseline information also will be used in developing broader amendments to the township’s general noise ordinance and could apply to other commercial and industrial uses, including outdoor recreation and entertainment venues.
Combined with the $4,500 authorized in June, Monday’s approval allows the township to spend as much as $19,500 with Memtech on baseline testing, ordinance review, and development of enforceable language.
Township officials said future data center applicants could still be required to conduct site-specific sound studies at their own expense. Those measurements would allow the township to evaluate existing conditions at a proposed location and determine how the facility’s projected noise would affect the surrounding area.
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With the sound study authorized, the board turned to extending the moratorium while that work is completed.
“The heaviest part of the framework is already done,” Township Supervisor Kevin Spicher said, a comment VanMarter confirmed.
During the discussion, Trustee Bill Reiber asked whether the township’s objective was to create regulations that would discourage data center development.
“I remember sitting in the planning commission meetings and you know you don’t make it illegal, right, to have data centers here, but you kind of write the rules to make it unappealing or difficult?”
“Or just to protect the residents,” Spicher responded. “You know, the biggest concerns seem to be power consumption, water consumption, noise and vibration. So I think we really need to dig very, very hard into those four topics.”
Township Attorney Joe Seward agreed and cautioned the board against characterizing its work as an attempt to deter any particular land use.
“Yeah, you want to focus on the health, safety, and welfare of the township. You do not want to say we want to make it difficult for a particular business or entity to come in here. Your focus needs to be on health, safety, and welfare.”
Reiber, who serves as the board’s liaison to the planning commission, then asked how the township’s ongoing master plan process could affect where data centers might be located.
“So what I guess what I was getting at is how are we moving toward our master plan to rezone areas if necessary based on survey results?”
“Well, you can’t ban any specific use,” Spicher said.
VanMarter then addressed Reiber’s question about the master plan.
“And just a note related back to your question was the master plan won’t change the zoning of any property,” she said. “So the master plan will set a future land use map, which is sort of our map moving forward as opposed to zoning, which is what is allowed there today.”
The moratorium extension passed unanimously.
The extension applies to new applications and retains the original resolution’s exceptions for previously approved development agreements, planned-unit-development agreements, and consent judgments.
The moratorium will remain in effect for six additional months or until the township’s data center ordinance takes effect, whichever occurs first. The resolution says it is the only extension permitted.
