Bill > HB5846

This bill, titled the "data center overlay districts act," allows local governments in Michigan to create special zoning areas called "data center overlay districts" to manage the development of data centers, which are facilities primarily used for storing, processing, or operating digital information. Before establishing or changing these districts, local governments must consider the potential "local impacts" of data centers, which include effects on energy, water, utilities, noise, traffic, and emergency services, among others. Ordinances for these districts can impose additional requirements for data center zoning, special land use approvals, and other conditions to address these local impacts, and large-scale data centers, defined by thresholds like electrical load or infrastructure investment, may be restricted to these overlay districts. The bill also mandates transparency by requiring public meetings and hearings to comply with the Open Meetings Act and making relevant documents available under the Freedom of Information Act, and it clarifies that this act supplements existing zoning laws.

Government Affairs

https://legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2026-HB-5846