- January 19, 2024: In an introductory e-mail between the “Project Honeycomb” developers and Lenox Township supervisor’s office, the project is described as a re-development of Oakridge Golf Course with some of the surrounding property into a strategic site for future manufacturing, logistics, and cutting edge commercial including food hall and hotels.
- February 15, 2024: In a subsequent e-mail, obtained via FOIA, the discussion is about preparing for a March 6th, 2024, meeting. The developer discussed an EcoPower Travel Center concept including EV charging, hydrogen fuel options, repair facility, overnight parking, etc. which would create 350+ new jobs.
- February 28, 2024: Documents are sent over to the Township in preparation of the March 6th meeting – one of the files named “I-94 Corridor Development” and a Travel Center Pitch Deck.
- February 24, 2025: Planning Commission meeting
- Master Plan Discussion under New Business. This is the first time the Master Plan was introduced into the Planning Commission.
- March 24, 2025: Planning Commission meeting
- Maser Plan discussion involved timelines and requirements.
- April 28, 2025: Planning Commission meeting
- Light discussion on Master Plan, specifically regarding low community input
- May 19, 2025: Planning Commission meeting
- 🚩The first 5 chapters of the Master Plan were available to review. “[Linda] Rosseel detailed several concerns regarding the Master Plan Draft.”
- 🚩Importantly, the I-94 Development District is not mentioned anywhere in the first 5 chapters.
- June 23, 2025: Planning Commission meeting cancelled
- July 28, 2025: Planning Commission meeting cancelled
- August 25, 2025: Planning Commission meeting cancelled
- September 22, 2025: Planning Commission meeting
- Draft Master Plan was submitted for 63 day review
- 🚩This is the first meeting that the Planning Commission had the full Master Plan with the Future Land Use documenting the I-94 Development District.
- October 27, 2025: Planning Commission meeting cancelled
- November 24, 2025: Planning Commission meeting
- No master plan discussion took place
- December 22, 2025: Planning Commission meeting cancelled
- 🚩January 14, 2026: FOIA’d e-mails reveal communication with the Supervisor’s office requesting a meeting between the Township and a representative from Cloverleaf – a large-scale datacenter developer.
- January 15, 2026: The developers reach out to the Supervisor’s office asking for copies of the new proposed zoning map – within 15 minutes, the draft land use map and zoning map are forwarded over.
- 🚩January 21, 2026: FOIA’d e-mails reveal communication with “Project Honeycomb” developers and the Supervisor’s office formally requesting a Letter of Support for their proposed data center project in Lenox Township
- January 26, 2026: Planning Commission meeting
- Master Plan public hearing took place. 🚩Commissioner Pannell raised concerns about data centers potentially locating within the I-94 Development District.
- Despite these concerns, the Master Plan is adopted by the Planning Commission.
- 🚩January 28, 2026: Supervisor’s office publishes a public statement denying any communication, knowledge, or proposals from data center developers and the Township.
- February 2, 2026: Board of Trustees meeting
- 4-month Data Center moratorium is passed by the Board with an option to extend the moratorium an additional 4 months if needed.
- 🚩February 4, 2026: FOIA’d e-mails show the draft ordinances were previously shared with the “Project Honeycomb” developers: on February 4th the developers sends the Supervisor’s office an email with their feedback on both the Data Center ordinance and the I-94 Development District ordinance.
- February 23, 2026: Planning Commission meeting
- Discussion about the I-94 Development District and Data Centers
- 🚩“Officials reported that rumors are circulating, the Township has no factual knowledge of property being transferred to develop a data center within the Assessing area. It was emphasized that repeating unverified rumors would be unethical and that transparency would continue. The urgency of establishing ordinances was acknowledged, particularly in light of public concern and speculation. Township leadership reiterated their commitment to remaining open, transparent, and responsive to residents throughout the process.“
- During Public Comment, a resident mentioned receiving a conditional offer on their property. Many other residents spoke up regarding their concerns regarding data centers.
- March 23, 2026: Planning Commission meeting
- Drafts of the I-94 Development District and a 3-page Data Center Ordinance are reviewed with the Planning Commission.
- April 15, 2026: Town Hall Meeting
- A town hall was set up with various tables around the room, each table represented a specific topic — electrical, lighting, noise, water, etc. Attendees were encouraged to give feedback at each table on what they would like to see in the ordinance for that topic.
- April 27, 2026: Planning Commission meeting
- The Planning Commission was given a new, much lengthier High Resource Demand Facilities (“data centers”) draft ordinance with many more restrictions included.
- The Commission reviewed both the I-94 Development District and the draft High Resource Demand Facilities (“data centers”) ordinance.
- Realizing that there’s a lot of work to do and not a lot of time, a recommendation was made by the Planning Commission to the Board of Trustees requesting an 8-month moratorium extension on top of the 4-month moratorium currently in place, which would bring the total length of the moratorium to 12-months.
- May 4, 2026: Board of Trustees meeting
- Prior to the Moratorium Extension Request agenda item, the Board of Trustees entered into closed session to confer with the Township Attorney regarding the threat of litigation. The closed session was about 1 hour in length.
- 🚩Upon re-exiting Closed Session, Trustee Marino makes a speech about the Planning Commission “kicking the can” and needing to hunker down and do the work – that they’ve had 4 months to get the ordinance together and they still have another month to finish the job. Trustee Marino motions to not extend the moratorium, seconded by Trustee Rosseel. All members of the board, except Clerk Gurley, vote in favor of NOT extending the moratorium.
- Multiple members of the Planning Commission speak up during Public Comment that they’re discouraged by the lack of respect shown by the Board.
- May 12, 2026: Planning Commission Special meeting
- Based on the moratorium extension being rejected, a special meeting is held to further review the ordinances and get a draft ready for Public Hearing.
- Motion is made and approved for the Public Hearing to be held on May 29, 2026.
- May 15, 2026: The deadline to have public notice published into the Macomb Daily passes, requiring the Clerk to reschedule the Public Hearing to June 2, 2026.
- May 18, 2026: Planning Commission meeting
- Further review and refinement of the I-94 Development District draft ordinance and the High Resource Demand Facilities (“data centers”) draft ordinance.
- Motions were made to rescind the Public Hearing scheduled for May 29 and to schedule a new Public Hearing for June 2, 2026.
- 🚩During the meeting, Commissioner Rodzik directly asks Supervisor Reeder and Deputy Supervisor Grabow if any non-disclosure agreements exist which pertain to the I-94 Development District. Both individuals kept their heads down, ignoring the question, and refusing to answer. The silence was deafening.
- June 1, 2026: Board of Trustees meeting
- The meeting opened to an absolutely packed room, with estimated 200 people in the crowd.
- 🚩Once the meeting was called to order and pledge was taken, the Board moved to the approval of the adoption. Although this is the normal flow of the meeting to approve the agenda first before public comment, in this instance many of the residents were there thinking they had a chance to encourage the Board to add the moratorium extension onto the agenda. Instead, with no public comment prior, the Board unanimously approved the agenda as it was presented despite outbursts from the crowd pleading with them to add the extension.
- Public Comment lasted about 2 hours with residents begging and pleading for the Board to amend the agenda to add a moratorium extension onto the agenda.
- 🚩At the conclusion of Public Comment, the meeting proceeds as the agenda was presented – no moratorium extension was presented or discussed.
- At the second public comment towards the end of the meeting, residents expressed outrage and frustration while still pleading for the Board to extend the moratorium.
- 🚩At Call from the Board, instead of any of the board members giving any type of explanation on why the moratorium extension wasn’t on the agenda or granted, Trustee Marino motions to adjourn the meeting.
- June 2, 2026: Planning Commission Special Hearing
- Further review and refinement of the I-94 Development District draft ordinance and the High Resource Demand Facilities (“data centers”) draft ordinance.
- 🚩Many of the commissioners expressed concerns about timing, feeling rushed, that they weren’t qualified, that they needed a lawyer specialized in data centers to review the ordinances, that the ordinances were not ready for publication, that a moratorium should’ve been extended by the Board, that they felt they had to approve recommending the ordinances to the board due to the lack of time left with no moratorium extension, fears of being sued or not making the right choice, etc.
- 🚩Many comments were made about not understanding where the I-94 development district came from, who created it, why it was created, when did it come into existence, etc.
- 🚩It was pointed out that the Township did not properly send notice to the residents who own parcels within the district of the hearing.
- 🚩Furthermore, residents who came to the Township the day of the Special Hearing were told the draft ordinances were not ready for review, despite the 15-day public notice saying the ordinances would be available for review at the township office.
- 🚩Prior to the motions being made, a 5 minute recess occurred for the Chair to make a phone call, the Commission returned to the table and retroactively motioned for the recess.
- 🚩Many questions and comments about wishing they had legal counsel present at the meeting to be able to answer questions or give advise on what their options were. The High Resource Demand Facilities (“data centers”) draft ordinance still had a section at the very end with “Legal Questions”
- Two individual motions were made to table each of the draft ordinances for further review to get the suggested updates from the hearing incorporated.
