Each of Michigan's 15 public universities can buy land anywhere in the state and determine what it will be used for ― without the approval of the local government where the land is located. Michigan's universities are autonomous, self-governing institutions protected by the Constitution from state intervention, according to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.
But because the growing number of proposed data centers in Michigan is prompting controversy about how much energy and water they will use and the economic benefits they generate, UM's proposed 290,000-square-foot facility is coming under fire from township officials and residents.
State Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr., D-Ypsilanti, told The Detroit News he plans to introduce a proposed constitutional amendment that would force state universities to follow local zoning ordinances and go through public processes, such as gaining approval from the local government's planning commissions, before construction begins.
The proposed amendment, which would need to be approved by a vote of two-thirds of the House and the Senate before heading to the statewide voters, would specifically target Michigan's largest universities: UM, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.
"The Constitution is silent on the issue of local governments and universities and how they should operate in the same sandbox," said Eric Lupher, the president of the nonprofit Citizens Research Council of Michigan.
Wilson said he hoped the proposed amendment, if passed, would return some authority to municipalities when it came to working with universities on projects local residents deemed controversial. He pointed to the dispute between Ypsilanti Township and UM over the site of the planned computing facility. The university initially sought to build the facility on an undeveloped 144 acres off Textile Road and bordered by the Huron River. This land was designated as "light industrial," but wasn't designated for the industrial needs of a data center, Ypsilanti Township officials said at a meeting in January.
Township officials claimed the university intentionally cuts them out of discussions involving the planned purchase of land and what the university intended to do with it. Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo said that once the township was alerted to the university's plans, the township had no power to intervene.
UM did agree to consider another site that would require it to lease and cohabit with the American Center for Mobility, also in Ypsilanti Township. Neither site has been chosen yet.
UM Assistant Vice President for Communications Paul Corliss declined to comment on the planned amendment because it had yet to be filed. Vice President for Government Relations Chris Kolb previously said the university followed all standard practices when informing the township of its plans. Because the university bought the land from a private owner, Norfolk and Western Railway, it had no need to discuss the purchasing negotiations with anyone else, Kolb said.
Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo said she's in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment and believes it would increase transparency surrounding the project.
"It should be required that universities go through the same process as any other developer," Stumbo said. "Universities can buy property anywhere in the state and be exempt from zoning ordinances and taxes. It’s unfair. ... To protect other communities from going through what we are, I appreciate the introduction of this."
Officials with the Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Townships Association and Michigan Association of Pubic Universities didn't respond to requests for comment.
HOW UNIVERSITIES OPERATE
Michigan's universities are able to operate uniquely compared with other states, Lupher said.
"The fundamental issue is that our Constitution has granted the universities autonomy," he said. "They’re part of state government, but they’re not part of state government."
Other states, like North Carolina and Florida, have centralized public higher education networks governed by a single board. This design doesn't allow for universities to act as individual, public bodies.
Lupher said advocates for universities' autonomy said it allows them to be more responsive to their respective communities and respond faster to economic incentives. In Michigan and other states without a state apparatus for higher education, each individual university has a distinct culture, he said.
But Michigan's universities have pushed the boundaries of the silence and vagueness in the constitution regarding how exactly they should operate to give them more power than may have been originally intended, he added.
"The constitutional independence is more about operating as an independent body in giving students degrees," Lupher said. "The state doesn't dictate what majors are available or how students earn credits; they leave that to the schools."
There is a precedent for the state to pass laws that universities have to follow, even though they operate as governmental bodies, he added.
"Universities follow food safety, employment, anti-discrimination laws," Lupher said. "I don't see why the state couldn't make laws that would impact how the university uses land."
OTHER INTERVENTION ATTEMPTS
The planned constitutional amendment wouldn't be the first time Wilson or other state representatives tried or announced plans to intervene in the planning of the UM computing facility.
In December, Wilson introduced a bill that would block $100 million of state taxpayer money that hasn't yet been paid to the university specifically for the site. The money was approved in December 2024 by the then-Democratic-led House and Senate appropriations committees for strategic site readiness efforts through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
In an email to Wilson after the bill was introduced, Kolb said rescinding this grant before a site had been selected would "undermine a nationally significant research partnership and jeopardize Michigan’s leadership in advanced computation, scientific discovery, and high-wage job creation."
A bipartisan coalition of state representatives introduced several bills last week that would place a one-year moratorium on all data center construction. This likely wouldn't affect the UM facility, as construction isn't planned to begin until late 2027 or 2028.
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