Protestors gather outside Allen Park City Hall Jan. 8 prior to the Planning Commission meeting to express concerns about the proposed data center on Enterprise Drive.
Protest organizer Jessica Schering of Trenton speaks about a proposed data center prior to the Allen Park Jan. 8 Planning Commission meeting at city hall.
Project compared to doomed movie studio
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – Protestors outside city hall and in attendance at the Jan. 8 Planning Commission meeting may have influenced the body to delay approval of a proposed data center on Enterprise Drive.
The location and controversy over the proposed data center have raised cautionary concerns and comparisons to the doomed Lifton/Unity Studios project that pushed the city into state receivership under an emergency finance manager in 2012 due to unpaid debt.
Protest organizer Dr. Jessica Schering of Trenton said that while some people believe the data center will be a game-changer for the community, it will consume significant resources and will impact electrical and water utilities as well as the environment.
“One thing that I have said before, speaking as a physician, what’s in the ground is in the ground, and the jobs that are going to be created are custodial jobs, and these are not career-changing jobs that are going to be happening in our community,” she said. “This is essentially going to be draining the community more than it is going to be adding to it.”
Schering said she hoped to learn from the information presented at the Planning Commission meeting.
Protestor Patrick Masell of Wyandotte said the current influx of artificial intelligence data centers throughout the county and the world raise myriad concerns, which he feels have not been properly answered yet.
“Utility costs, environmental concerns, concerns about residents in the immediate vicinity – I know that this facility is proposed to be built very close to a residential area,” he said. “And I know that hearing from people who live close to these (artificial intelligence) data centers that they have an adverse effect on the quality of life for the people in these residential areas.”
Masell said that while the state government offers some protections with respect to electric rate affordability, if the bubble bursts on AI centers, Michigan residents could be left holding the bag.
The Allen Park Jan. 8 Planning Commission meeting draws a packed crowd voicing concerns about a proposed data center on Enterprise Drive, prompting the body to postpone approval of the site.
He questioned whether new utility infrastructure would have to be developed to support the demands of a new data center.
“Those questions aren’t being answered sufficiently, and instead we have these major corporations pushing through their agenda,” Masell said. “They want these data centers built, and they want them built quickly, consequences be damned.”
Political aspirant Joanna Whaley of Lincoln Park said many in the community are already worried about rising costs.
“These companies operate with very minimal transparency and what’s happening across the country is when these places are built, a lot of the costs are going to get pushed onto the residents,” she said. “There are so many loopholes that are being giving to these companies and there are so many sweetheart deals that they enjoy, and when they go wrong, we’re left holding the bag, and we’ve already been here once in Allen Park with sweetheart deals that went wrong.”
Whaley confirmed her comment was in reference to the failed Lifton/Unity Studio project.
“We want to make sure that the people’s voices are heard and that we are not left holding a financial burden for billionaire companies who can,” she said.
Whaley said the protestors are seeking transparency and for companies to assume their own costs of doing business.
“There are environmental impacts that we want to be aware of next to a neighborhood,” she said. “We don’t want the noise and all that, but we do understand that we are in a technological era and we are moving closer and closer to AI, but we have to make sure that we are doing these things right, and they are in the right places and the environmental impacts are low and the economic impacts are low.”
Whaley said the data center is proposed to be on the old movie center property next to the giant landmark tire.
“It is off the beaten path, but it is literally a stone’s throw from a neighborhood and Melvindale High School,” she said.
Protest organizer Jessica Schering (right) of Trenton speaks about a proposed data center prior to the Allen Park Jan. 8 Planning Commission meeting at city hall.
A protestor expresses her concerns about a proposed Allen Park data center’s impact on the environment with a sign at Allen Park City Hall prior to the Jan. 8 Planning Commission meeting.