In Dundee Township, Water and State Law Shape the Big Parcels as Much as Zoning

If a 350-acre data center could be proposed on land its developer described as already zoned industrial, what stopped it in Dundee?

The developer withdrew from its pre-development agreement after public pushback, and the Village of Dundee then voted to refuse the project water. The township's zoning ordinance, which never mentioned data centers, was not what decided it. That matters to anyone weighing a rural home or acreage around Dundee right now, because the township's rules for large parcels are still being written, and its data center moratorium runs to June 22, 2027.

The Proposal That Fit the Map

On October 8, 2025, Cloverleaf Infrastructure presented "Project Ironwood" to Dundee Township. The site was at Ann Arbor Road and Day Road, where Dundee Township, the Village of Dundee, and Milan Township meet. The company called it a conceptual plan of approximately 350 acres on land with existing industrial zoning. In its town hall Q&A, Cloverleaf said the land it acquired for the project was already zoned industrial. It also described a possible temporary 425 agreement that would move the land into the Village. Industry outlet DataCenterDynamics reported the site as 750 acres. The public record doesn't say whether the two figures describe different boundaries.

WTOL reported that the planned site sat just north of the Dundee Engine Plant. The project was not a request to turn farmland into something new on paper. As the developer described it, the project fit the zoning map already in place.

The Village Held the Water

WTOL's account shows two steps in how the project stalled. Cloverleaf withdrew from its pre-development agreement in a September 30 email. The company said it should have done more to communicate with and listen to the public before advancing the proposal. Then the Village Council voted unanimously to cut off access to the village water supply. Village Council President Tim Bordine told WTOL, "They needed water from us in Monroe and we're just going to no to that now."

Bordine also told WTOL the site could still suit other businesses, including possibly a grocery store. The land is still there and still zoned for industry. After the developer stepped back, the Village's water vote closed off a service the project needed.

For anyone looking at property near a large parcel, this flips the usual research order. A zoning map tells you what is allowed. Whether a large project can actually run on a site depends on utility agreements between separate governments, and those decisions get made in a different room, by a different board.

The Ordinance Never Mentioned Data Centers

The township said as much in writing. Resolution 2025-5, adopted December 9, 2025, states that the Dundee Township Zoning Ordinance "does not specifically provide for data centers as a use in the Township and as such does not provide or set forth any minimum standards or development standards specific to the specialized data center uses."

The same resolution records that owners of large-acreage parcels across the township had reportedly been contacted about selling land, or had already sold it, for a large-scale data center project. It paused all new or pending data center zoning, rezoning, site plan, and land use applications for 180 days. It also asked the Planning Commission to study where such projects could go and what standards should apply, covering:

• groundwater, water quality, and impervious surface
• noise, light, glare, vibration, and visual impact
• setbacks, site size limits, and buffers for neighboring owners
• traffic, utility infrastructure, and decommissioning

Those are the rules a buyer of a farmhouse on ten acres would want to read before closing. As of the latest posted minutes, none of them has been adopted.

The Freeze Now Runs to June 2027

On May 12, 2026, the Township Board unanimously adopted Resolution No. 2026-4, which extends the data center moratorium "from June 22, 2026 through June 22, 2027," according to the Board minutes. The original resolution took effect immediately on December 9, 2025, for 180 days, which counts out to early June, while the Board minutes date the extension from June 22. Here is the timeline from the township's own records:

The advisory committee seats one Planning Commission member, one Township Board member, and five community members. At the September 16 Planning Commission meeting, a committee member presented its running list of concerns. The list put weight on water use and possible contamination during disposal, and it drew on London Township's water-use ordinance and material from the Alliance for the Great Lakes. Chair Christi Rogers said the data center discussion needed to go back on the Board's schedule, "Even though there is still a moratorium currently in place." The October 21 Planning Commission meeting was canceled. The township's notice said "Additional information needed to support the next steps" and gave no new date.

Battery Storage Has a State Back Door

The data center pause may have a firm end date, but the township's control over battery storage has a softer edge. In May 2026, the Board discussed Public Act 233 and the need for a compatible ordinance on battery energy storage systems. Under PA 233, a storage facility rated at least 50 megawatts and able to discharge at least 200 megawatt-hours can seek a siting certificate from the state.

That threshold shapes how the township is writing its own rule. The August 19 Planning Commission minutes frame the basic concern as "what authority does the Township really have on such development when a developer could bypass and go to the state level for approval." By September 16, the commission reported the township attorney's advice to make the local ordinance slightly stricter than state requirements. Go much further, the advice ran, and a developer would likely skip the township and deal directly with the state.

So the local ordinance has to be strict enough to address local concerns but not so strict that the project leaves for the state process. This affects real land. In public comment at the meeting the minutes date May 20, 2026, a speaker described a developer's proposed 29 acres near Radka Road and Covell Road, plus possible additional land closer to Dundee Azalia Road between Radka and Lafler roads. The developer may hold an open house in spring 2027 if it moves forward. According to the August 12 Ad Hoc Committee minutes, speakers described a separate 180-megawatt storage facility near Arbor Chase, attributed to EDF. The BESS ordinance remains a draft. At the October 13 Board meeting, members held off on rescheduling a canceled BESS educational presentation until questions about possible industry relationships and conflicts of interest were answered.

A Master Plan Last Opened to the Public 26 Years Ago

The bigger rewrite underneath all of this is the Township Master Plan. Minutes the township posted under a June 17, 2026 heading note that the last public meeting on the Master Plan was 26 years earlier. The township surveyed residents this year, and 286 responded. The August 19 minutes say the results showed "the majority of respondents wanting to keep rural and small-town characteristics." At the same meeting, a commenter raised DTE's planned gas-fired power plant in Milan Township and talk at a Milan Township meeting of a possible second site in Dundee Township.

The Village is on its own track. Its June 2026 joint-meeting packet sets a July through December 2026 schedule:

1. Planning Commission recommends the draft for neighboring-jurisdiction review
2. Village Council approves releasing the draft
3. A 63-day review period
4. Planning Commission public hearing and recommendation
5. Village Council adoption

The packet lists more affordable and smaller homes among its housing options, along with water, sewer, and road infrastructure as strategic concerns. The packet gives no calendar date for the public hearing. Chair Rogers has scheduled a meeting with the Village planner to line up the township and village plans. Two governments are drafting two plans at once, and the 2025 vote showed that the Village's water decisions can shape outcomes on land near its border.

What This Means for a Dundee Property Search

For a buyer comparing Monroe County communities, the takeaway is about timing. A rural parcel in Dundee Township is being bought at a moment when the rules for neighboring big parcels are still open. The data center pause runs through June 22, 2027. A storage ordinance is being drafted in the shadow of a state siting path. A Master Plan untouched by public meetings for a quarter century is being reopened with fresh survey input. And the Village, whose water vote helped settle the 2025 proposal, has its own Master Plan adoption steps scheduled for July through December 2026.

All of these records are public. The township posts Board and Planning Commission minutes at dundeetownshipmi.org, and the Village posts its packets on its civic portal. This post is general information about public proceedings, not legal advice, so anyone weighing how zoning or state siting law affects a specific property should confirm the details with a land use attorney or the township directly.

If you're looking at acreage or a rural home around Dundee and want help reading what's planned next door before you write an offer, Jacob Levicki can walk the parcel with you and pull together the township records that apply to it. Let's Connect.