Saginaw’s data center rules took effect Oct. 9, while its moratorium holds through December

SAGINAW, Mich. — Saginaw’s new rules for data centers became law on Friday, Oct. 9. The City Council adopted the ordinance 8-0 on Sept. 28, with Mayor Pro Tem Priscilla Garcia absent, MLive reported. The vote closed out work that began in January, when the council told City Hall staff to write a policy.

No one is lined up to build yet. WNEM reported that no data center is being developed in the city. The moratorium the council approved in January also stays in place through the end of 2026, new ordinance or not.

The ordinance text the city posted allows a data center only in a light or general industrial district, and only as a special land use. That means a zoning administrator’s review and a Planning Commission vote, and the ordinance says neither one can waive its requirements.

The standards are specific. The building and its supporting equipment, such as generators, batteries and cooling units, must sit at least 500 feet from the nearest home or residential district. Noise at that line may not go above 55 decibels. Developers must report expected water, wastewater and energy use, pay for any added water or sewer capacity, and put up a bond or cash deposit to cover the cost of shutting the site down someday.

Neighbors get a say before anything is built. An applicant must hold at least two neighborhood meetings, mail notices to property owners within half a mile and post a sign on the site at least 15 days ahead of each meeting. Routine generator testing would be limited to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, posted online 72 hours in advance.

A small server room inside an existing business does not count, according to the ordinance, as long as it serves only that business, sits in the same building and takes up no more than 10% of its footprint.

The council met next on Monday, Oct. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Andersen Enrichment Center, 120 Ezra Rust, the city calendar showed. A public hearing that night covered a request for a Commercial Rehabilitation Act district on properties along South Hamilton, Adams, South Niagara and Mackinaw streets, according to the city’s notice.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The ordinance’s Oct. 9 effective date has passed, and this story’s headline and dates have been changed to the past tense. The Oct. 12 council meeting has also passed; as of Tuesday, Oct. 13, the city had not posted a result of the Commercial Rehabilitation Act hearing. Read our story on that hearing.

Sources:
City of Saginaw, Ordinance O-281, “Data Center Zoning Ordinance,” enacted Sept. 28, 2026, https://www.saginaw-mi.com/DocumentCenter/View/6810/O-281-PDF
MLive, “Saginaw council approves data center ordinance after months of planning,” Sept. 28, 2026, https://www.mlive.com/news/2026/09/saginaw-council-approves-data-center-ordinance-after-months-of-planning.html
WNEM TV5, “Saginaw approves new rules for future data centers as moratorium nears end,” Sept. 29, 2026, https://www.wnem.com/2026/09/29/saginaw-approves-new-rules-future-data-centers-moratorium-nears-end/
City of Saginaw, Notice of Public Hearing, Commercial Rehabilitation Act District, Oct. 12, 2026, https://saginaw-mi.com/DocumentCenter/View/6789/Public-Hearing-Notice-District-10-12-2026-PDF
City of Saginaw calendar, City Council regular meeting, Oct. 12, 2026, https://saginaw-mi.com/Calendar.aspx?EID=1298
Photo: Antony-22, “Saginaw City Hall 2025a,” July 25, 2025, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saginaw_City_Hall_2025a.jpg

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