Saline Township Data Center Settlement: $14M, Limits, and Challenges

The Saline Township data center settlement is a consent judgment signed by Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Julia Owdziej on October 15, 2025, that ended an exclusionary zoning lawsuit filed by Related Digital after the township denied its rezoning request. Under the deal, the township rezoned 575 acres of farmland from agricultural to light industrial for a $16 billion Oracle and OpenAI data center known as “The Barn,” and the developer agreed to pay $14 million to the township and area fire departments, accept operational limits on water and noise, preserve roughly 200 acres for farming, and post a bond covering eventual demolition if the site is abandoned.¹²

Why the Township Settled

The Saline Township Board of Trustees had voted 4–1 on September 10, 2025, to deny the rezoning after its planning commission recommended denial and a packed public meeting turned largely against the project.³⁴ Two days later, Related Digital and the four landowner families that had signed purchase agreements for the 575 acres sued in Washtenaw County Circuit Court.⁵⁶

The lawsuit’s core claim was that Saline Township kept an industrial zoning category on paper but had never actually zoned any parcel for industrial use. The developer called that classification “mere window dressing” and argued the township was violating Michigan’s Zoning Enabling Act by excluding a lawful land use.⁷ Township Clerk Kelly Marion later said the township “could not prove we weren’t being exclusionary.”⁸

The financial exposure drove the decision. The township’s attorney estimated a loss could produce damages over $25 million, calculated on the gap between agricultural land value (roughly $10,000 per acre) and industrial value ($50,000 to $60,000 per acre). Saline Township carried only $500,000 in legal insurance and was already facing a projected budget deficit. Officials also worried that if the landowners partnered with a tax-exempt government body or university, the township could lose both tax revenue and any regulatory hand over the site.⁸ The board voted to settle in early October 2025, and the consent judgment was signed on October 15.

What the $14 Million Covers

Saline Area Fire Department: $7 million.
Manchester Fire Department: $500,000.
Clinton Township Fire Department: $500,000.
Farmland Preservation Trust Fund: $4 million, paid in two $2 million installments. The first is due when building permits and an industrial tax exemption are approved; the second is due one year later.
Community Investment Fund: $2 million for township amenities and repairs.

The fire department payments are structured in halves. The first half is due when the industrial tax exemption is approved or one year after construction begins, whichever comes later. The second half is due when the facility receives its certificate of occupancy.¹ After the October settlement, the project team pledged an additional $10 million toward the Saline Recreation Center at the June 1, 2026, groundbreaking, separate from the $14 million in the consent judgment.⁹

Operational Limits on the Facility

The consent judgment constrains how the data center can run, addressing the resident concerns that drove the original denial.

Water

High-water-use evaporative cooling is prohibited. The facility must draw from an on-site well and use a private sewer system rather than municipal utilities. If a neighboring well runs dry because of the data center’s water use, Related Digital must pay to restore service.²

Noise

Sound at the property line is capped at 55 decibels. Generator testing is limited to daylight hours and cannot occur more than once per week.² The township is soliciting proposals from engineering firms to monitor sound once the facility is operational.¹⁰

Land Preservation

Roughly 200 acres of the 575-acre site are preserved for agricultural use, and 47.5 acres of wetlands and woodlands are protected under a conservation easement.¹¹ Related Digital also agreed not to develop 476 acres it controls in neighboring Bridgewater Township.²

Decommissioning

The developer must post a surety bond of $5 million to $10 million. If the buildings sit abandoned for five consecutive years, the site must be demolished and the land restored.¹

Use Restrictions on the Rezoned Land

The 575 acres are limited to data center use. No future building expansions are allowed, solar farms are prohibited, and the property cannot be sold or leased to a tax-exempt entity, which addresses the township’s fear of losing tax revenue after the fact.¹ Related Digital also agreed to install turn lanes on Michigan Avenue.² The consent judgment also terminated a farmland preservation agreement that had covered part of the site.

Challenges to the Settlement

The consent judgment has survived several attempts to unwind it.

The Intervention Motion

On December 13, 2025, resident Kathryn Haushalter moved to intervene in the settled lawsuit, alleging that township officials had violated Michigan’s Open Meetings Act by negotiating the deal in secret.¹² Judge Owdziej denied the motion on February 20, 2026, calling it untimely and futile. The judge acknowledged that the meeting minutes had been inaccurate but found the board was in open session when it voted to settle: “There was a public comment period, and the resolution was ‘I move to approve the consent judgement that has been outlined by our attorney.’ So, to say that happened in hiding or in secret just isn’t accurate.”¹³ The judge also cited reliance harms if the settlement were reopened, including a $40 million non-refundable deposit Related Digital had paid DTE Energy for power and residents who had already vacated homes or auctioned farm equipment.¹⁴ The Rural Michigan Defense Fund filed a motion for reconsideration on March 30, 2026.¹⁵

The Zoning Board Appeal

On December 19, 2025, three residents appealed a zoning permit issued December 4, arguing that the official zoning map had never been formally amended and that a consent judgment alone cannot rezone property. In their reading, only the township board can amend the zoning ordinance through a public process.¹⁵ When the township took the position that the Zoning Board of Appeals would not hear the case, the residents filed a mandamus lawsuit in January 2026 to compel it. The township has moved to dismiss, and construction continues.³

Recall Petitions

Resident E. Frederick Gall filed six recall petitions on April 16, 2026, against Supervisor James Marion, Clerk Kelly Marion, and Trustee Tom Hammond. Hammond and Kelly Marion were targeted specifically for their October 1, 2025, votes in favor of the settlement.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸ Petitioners need 302 valid signatures within 60 days to force an election.

What the Settlement Does Not Cover

The consent judgment resolves the zoning dispute between Related Digital and Saline Township. It does not resolve the fight over how the facility will be powered. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has separately challenged the Michigan Public Service Commission’s December 18, 2025, conditional approval of DTE Energy’s special contracts to serve the roughly 1.4-gigawatt facility, and she filed an appeal in the Michigan Court of Appeals on April 17, 2026, seeking a full contested case hearing.¹⁹²⁰ That case is pending and sits outside the township settlement.

The township has also set up an advisory committee that meets regularly to monitor Related Digital’s compliance with the settlement. Complaints logged so far include light pollution from the construction site, unauthorized truck routes through residential areas, and dirt tracked onto public roads.¹⁰

1
Saline Township. Saline Data Center Consent Judgment
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MLive. Data Center Developer Pledges $14M to Township, Fire Departments as Part of Settlement
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Fortune. AI Data Center Michigan Saline Politics Farmland
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Planet Detroit. Saline Denies Data Center
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MLive. AI Data Center Developer Sues Township Near Ann Arbor Over Denial to Rezone Farm Land
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Planet Detroit. Saline Data Center Settlement
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Michigan Advance. Data Center Developer Takes a Small Michigan Farming Community to Court
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GovTech. Michigan Township Defends Decision on OpenAI Data Center
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MLive. OpenAI, Oracle Leaders Praise Data Center South of Ann Arbor, Pledge $10M to Local Center
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Saline Township. Data Center Update
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The Sun Times News. Saline Township Settles Lawsuit as Data Center Project Moves Forward
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ClickOnDetroit. Saline Township Resident Files Lawsuit to Stop Massive Data Center Project
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WEMU. Lawsuit Aimed at Stopping Saline Township Data Center Rejected by Washtenaw County Judge
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MLive. Judge Denies Rural Neighbors Effort to Intervene in OpenAI Oracle Data Center Suit
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Rural Michigan Defense Fund. Press
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MLive. Recall Effort Targets 3 Officials in Saline Township Amid Data Center Pushback
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MLive. Recall Effort Approved for Supervisor of Township South of Ann Arbor
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MLive. Recall Petitions Approved Against 3 Officials in Township Grappling With Data Center South of Ann Arbor
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Michigan Public Service Commission. MPSC Approves DTE Electric Energy Contracts for Data Center
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Michigan Attorney General. AG Nessel Files Appeal of MPSC Approval of DTE’s Saline Data Center Contracts