Stop Future Hyperscale Data Centers in Van Buren Township
The Issue
Signing this will not stop the already-approved data center on its own. It demands a public vote on future projects over $10 million, and it backs the recall of the Board of Trustees that approved this one without consent from residents.
No vote, no voice.
Van Buren Township is my home. I grew up here. My family is still here. My friends are still here. I still consider it home, no matter where I live now.
My baby sister bought our grandma's house after she passed away, keeping our grandma's legacy alive, raising her four kids there. That house is less than 700 feet from the edge of the 282-acre site where they want to put a 1-gigawatt Google hyper-scale data center.
This is not just my family. On Hannan Road, Tracy Osborne's property backs right up to where the data center is going, less than 300 feet from the site. His water well is shallow, just 15 feet down, and he is caring for his disabled daughter. He has stood up in Township Hall and asked what constant low-frequency noise will do to her.
Special Tree Rehabilitation System, also on Hannan Road, is about 1,100 feet from the site's southeast corner. That is a brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation campus.
716 homes in Haggerty Sub sit directly across Haggerty Road from the site. Trilogy Apartments has 623 units about 1,200 feet from its southwest corner. Southport Apartments has 768 units just over a mile away.
Tyler Elementary is 0.67 miles from the site's northwest edge. Savage Elementary and Edgemont Elementary are within about 2.6 miles.
This is not out in the middle of nowhere. This is in the middle of us.
The census tract across Haggerty Road has 4,338 people per square mile. Census Tract 5879, right here, has 2,739 homes, 96 percent occupied, and 78 percent are owner-occupied.
It started with secrecy. On June 5, 2025, the township signed a mutual NDA with Panattoni, the developer. A year later, on May 19, 2026, the Township Board approved tax breaks, a development agreement and a memorandum of understanding for the 1-gigawatt Google data center on 282 acres.
The Van Buren Township Board of Trustees gave Google $125 million in tax breaks, cutting certain property taxes in half for 12 years. In September, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans vetoed the county's share, calling the process rushed and lacking public input. On Oct 1, 2026, the Wayne County Commission overrode his veto 13-0.
Site work was already underway before the final vote. At the Oct. 14 meeting, residents described dump trucks coming every half hour.
On Oct 14, 2026, the Planning Commission approved the final site plan 5-1. On Oct 28, 2026, it approved a 200 MW BESS battery plant 4-1.
The data center is reported to use 2 to 3.6 million gallons of water a day. On Oct 1, 2026, state regulators approved 20-year DTE power contracts for it. On Oct 30, 2026, Attorney General Dana Nessel asked regulators to rehear that power deal, case U-22058, arguing it could shift costs onto regular ratepayers. The commission's own order acknowledges other DTE customers would subsidize the data center from 2035 to 2038.
We demand a public vote on any future industrial project over $10 million coming to Van Buren Township. We were never given that vote on this project, so we are recalling the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees that approved it without giving us a say.
We need 3,401 signatures, in person, on paper, from registered Van Buren Township voters, to recall the board. That is the legal fight. This online petition cannot do that. It is pressure, and it is how we reach people outside Van Buren who want to help.
Signing this online petition does NOT count as signing the legal recall petition.
Anyone in the country can sign this, and we want you to. Your signature here adds pressure and it adds your name to our updates.
Only registered Van Buren Township voters can sign the legal recall, in person and on paper.
If you live in Van Buren Township, come sign in person: Saturday, November 14, 12-4 PM at Tyler Elementary, 42200 Tyler Rd.
For other signing locations, go to RecallThemAllVBT.com.
Sign this. Share this. If you live here, come sign the real one.
306
The Issue
Signing this will not stop the already-approved data center on its own. It demands a public vote on future projects over $10 million, and it backs the recall of the Board of Trustees that approved this one without consent from residents.
No vote, no voice.
Van Buren Township is my home. I grew up here. My family is still here. My friends are still here. I still consider it home, no matter where I live now.
My baby sister bought our grandma's house after she passed away, keeping our grandma's legacy alive, raising her four kids there. That house is less than 700 feet from the edge of the 282-acre site where they want to put a 1-gigawatt Google hyper-scale data center.
This is not just my family. On Hannan Road, Tracy Osborne's property backs right up to where the data center is going, less than 300 feet from the site. His water well is shallow, just 15 feet down, and he is caring for his disabled daughter. He has stood up in Township Hall and asked what constant low-frequency noise will do to her.
Special Tree Rehabilitation System, also on Hannan Road, is about 1,100 feet from the site's southeast corner. That is a brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation campus.
716 homes in Haggerty Sub sit directly across Haggerty Road from the site. Trilogy Apartments has 623 units about 1,200 feet from its southwest corner. Southport Apartments has 768 units just over a mile away.
Tyler Elementary is 0.67 miles from the site's northwest edge. Savage Elementary and Edgemont Elementary are within about 2.6 miles.
This is not out in the middle of nowhere. This is in the middle of us.
The census tract across Haggerty Road has 4,338 people per square mile. Census Tract 5879, right here, has 2,739 homes, 96 percent occupied, and 78 percent are owner-occupied.
It started with secrecy. On June 5, 2025, the township signed a mutual NDA with Panattoni, the developer. A year later, on May 19, 2026, the Township Board approved tax breaks, a development agreement and a memorandum of understanding for the 1-gigawatt Google data center on 282 acres.
The Van Buren Township Board of Trustees gave Google $125 million in tax breaks, cutting certain property taxes in half for 12 years. In September, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans vetoed the county's share, calling the process rushed and lacking public input. On Oct 1, 2026, the Wayne County Commission overrode his veto 13-0.
Site work was already underway before the final vote. At the Oct. 14 meeting, residents described dump trucks coming every half hour.
On Oct 14, 2026, the Planning Commission approved the final site plan 5-1. On Oct 28, 2026, it approved a 200 MW BESS battery plant 4-1.
The data center is reported to use 2 to 3.6 million gallons of water a day. On Oct 1, 2026, state regulators approved 20-year DTE power contracts for it. On Oct 30, 2026, Attorney General Dana Nessel asked regulators to rehear that power deal, case U-22058, arguing it could shift costs onto regular ratepayers. The commission's own order acknowledges other DTE customers would subsidize the data center from 2035 to 2038.
We demand a public vote on any future industrial project over $10 million coming to Van Buren Township. We were never given that vote on this project, so we are recalling the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees that approved it without giving us a say.
We need 3,401 signatures, in person, on paper, from registered Van Buren Township voters, to recall the board. That is the legal fight. This online petition cannot do that. It is pressure, and it is how we reach people outside Van Buren who want to help.
Signing this online petition does NOT count as signing the legal recall petition.
Anyone in the country can sign this, and we want you to. Your signature here adds pressure and it adds your name to our updates.
Only registered Van Buren Township voters can sign the legal recall, in person and on paper.
If you live in Van Buren Township, come sign in person: Saturday, November 14, 12-4 PM at Tyler Elementary, 42200 Tyler Rd.
For other signing locations, go to RecallThemAllVBT.com.
Sign this. Share this. If you live here, come sign the real one.
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Petition created on November 5, 2026