Saline Township resident Kathryn Haushalter filed court papers Dec. 13 to intervene in an ongoing lawsuit between Saline Township and Related Digital, a data center development company, over Stargate, a proposed $7 billion data center. The development is backed by tech company Oracle and OpenAI.
If constructed, the facility would become the largest data center in the United States, spanning 2.2 million square feet across 575 acres of land in Saline Township with an additional 476 acres in neighboring Bridgewater Township. Related Digital sued Saline Township after officials voted to deny rezoning the area needed for the project, alleging the decision violated the Michigan Constitution’s ban on exclusionary zoning.
Haushalter filed a motion to intervene in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, challenging an Oct 15. consent judgment — an out-of-court settlement reached between the township Related Digital — and alleging township officials violated Michigan’s Open Meetings Act during the agreement’s approval process.
In a statement, Haushalter said the Saline Township Council violated the act by holding a closed session approval vote on the final settlement language Oct.1.
“Our township board had no right to vote secretly and usher in a predatory data center in the middle of our farmland community through unlawful rezoning,” Haushalter wrote. “We will now stand with the citizens of Saline Township and fight for our right to say ‘no’ to this project.”
Saline Township attorney Fred Lucas and Clerk Kelly Marion told Planet Detroit the vote to move forward with the settlement was held at a packed meeting. However, they said clerical error in the meeting minutes makes it appear as though it was done in a closed session.
In a public statement, Robby Dube, one of Haushalter’s attorneys, wrote the consent judgment is invalid because only two of the five-member board signed the final version when it was filed with the court Oct. 15., which he alleges is also a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
“We have filed to intervene into the Saline lawsuit so we can throw out the consent judgment that was negotiated and signed in secret,” Dube wrote. “Then, we will do what Saline Township was unwilling to do: fight to show the original decision to deny rezoning was valid. Data centers cannot be permitted to use lawfare to override the democratic will of the people.”
In a press release issued Oct. 30, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer publicly supported the project, calling it the largest one-time investment in Michigan’s history and highlighting its ability to create thousands of jobs.
“This transformational new Stargate OpenAI facility, built by Oracle and Related Digital, will create 2,500 good-paying union construction jobs, more than 450 permanent high-skill, high-paying jobs on site, and 1,500 more in the community while helping us lead the future of advanced manufacturing and technology,” Whitmer wrote.
Whitmer expressed her growing support and wrote the investment will position Michigan as a national leader in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
“We will continue working together at the state level to win more projects so we can create even more good-paying, local jobs for Michiganders and grow our economy,” Whitmer wrote. “This investment from Oracle and Related Digital sends a simple message to anyone who wants to build the future—you can build it in Michigan.”
The lawsuits have support from activist groups like Stop the Saline Data Center and the Rural Michigan Defense Fund.
The court will decide whether to allow Haushalter to join the lawsuit formally. If the lawsuit succeeds, township officials will be required to revisit the decision in a public meeting and potentially delay or halt the project.
Daily News Editor Gia Verma can be reached at giaverma@umich.edu.
