Egelston Township Moves to Regulate Data Centers Amidst Construction Moratorium
Egelston Township in Muskegon County is taking steps to regulate data centers, with a planning commission scheduled to draft an ordinance following a six-month moratorium on their construction.
Flint Saginaw Bay City, MI, October 8, 2026 — Egelston Township, located in Muskegon County, is initiating a regulatory process for data center development. The township’s planning commission has been tasked with drafting a new ordinance aimed at governing the construction and operation of data centers. This move comes after a six-month period during which a moratorium on new data center construction has been in effect.
The planning commission is scheduled to undertake the drafting of this ordinance. The specific details regarding the timeline for the commission’s work beyond this scheduling were not provided. Similarly, the exact commencement and expiration dates of the six-month moratorium have not been detailed.
Data centers, which house computing infrastructure and networks, have become a focus for local governance in various regions due to their significant energy consumption, water usage, and land requirements. Municipalities often seek to establish clear zoning and development standards to manage their impact on local infrastructure and community resources.
The decision by Egelston Township to develop a specific ordinance suggests a proactive approach to managing the growth of this industry within its jurisdiction. The moratorium indicates a pause intended to allow officials time to study the implications of data center development and to formulate appropriate regulations before allowing further construction. The specific concerns or factors that led to the imposition of the moratorium and the subsequent decision to draft an ordinance were not detailed in the information available.
Following the drafting process, any proposed ordinance would typically undergo review and public hearings before it could be adopted by the township board, though these subsequent steps were not mentioned. The planning commission’s efforts are centered on creating a framework that balances development interests with the township’s planning objectives and community needs.
Story summarized from the original created by Kayla Tucker on www.mlive.com, see more information here.
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