GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Gaines Charter Township officials say a special meeting of the township's planning commission on February 12 has been canceled at Microsoft's request.
Gaines Community Development Director Dan Wells forwarded an email he received from the technology conglomerate Wednesday pertaining to its request to rezone 40.5 acres it owns at 7147 Patterson Avenue. The email asked that the meeting in the South Christian High School auditorium at 6 p.m. be rescheduled for a future date.
"We are continuing to evolve our plans for the data center campus, including the size, scope and design. And we would appreciate the opportunity to engage with the community and incorporate their feedback into our plans," Microsoft said in the message to township staff.
It is in the early planning process for the project and no final site details or development timelines have been released.
A public hearing scheduled for the December 18 planning commission meeting in the township hall boardroom was postponed because officials said the overflow crowd of more than 250 people exceeded the room's capacity. After that, the planning commission opted to hold a special meeting dedicated only to the Microsoft rezoning request on Feb. 12. But that has been postponed.
Microsoft is seeking to have the Patterson Avenue parcel rezoned from a large-scale planned unit development to light industrial. It is just north of a 316-acre site Microsoft bought in 2024 on Patterson Avenue. It also purchased a 274-acre parcel in Dorr Township that year.
Microsoft said in the email to Wells that it would like the special planning commission meeting to be rescheduled for late March.
"We are committed to moving forward with the rezoning process and want to ensure we are doing so in a manner that is as transparent as possible about our overall plans," it said.
Some Kent County residents spoke out against the proposed rezoning at the December meeting, after the public hearing was postponed. Among the concerns expressed were the high use of energy and water resources that data centers demand.
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