GAINES CHARTER TOWNSHIP -- Gaines Township officials tell WOOD Radio the township board's public hearing on a request from Microsoft to rezone some property for a future data center has been set for February 12.
Township staff had been considering that date or Feb. 10 as a backup date.
The dedicated hearing on only the rezoning request will take place in the South Christian High School Auditorium at 6 p.m. A public hearing that was scheduled last month was postponed due to overcapacity.
Microsoft is seeking to rezone 41 acres from a large-scale planned unit development to light industrial to accommodate a potential data center at 7147 Patterson Avenue south of the Amazon Fulfillment Center and 68th Street.
Township Attorney Clifford Bloom announced at the start of the Dec. 18 planning commission meeting in the Gaines Township Hall boardroom that the crowd exceeded the room's 250-person capacity. He said the Michigan Open Meetings Act requires sufficient room for everyone who want to attend the meeting.
There was also a fire code issue with the overcapacity.
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