Residents packed city hall and the data center died without a vote

INKSTER, Mich. The most consequential thing the Inkster City Council did on Monday night was nothing at all.

A proposal to convert a vacant 40,000-square-foot warehouse at 27181 Southern Street, just off Michigan Avenue, into a data center came before the council on October 19. The city's Planning Commission had already recommended conditional approval after a public hearing on October 12. The developer had the building under contract. By most ordinary measures, the project was on track.

Then residents filled the room. City hall reached capacity and a line stretched out the door, with people waiting outside while the meeting continued inside, according to WDIV Local 4, which covered the meeting.

For hours, residents spoke against the project, raising concerns about environmental impact, noise and light pollution. Several argued the site would be better used by a different kind of business.

When it was over, no council member made a motion to approve the special land use permit. Without a motion there is no second, and without a second there is no vote. The request simply died on the table.

What was being proposed

Robert Kato of Klever Technology Center LLC had applied for a special land use permit for the Southern Street property. Kato told Local 4 he had the building under contract and had formed the LLC specifically to pursue the project.

Reported figures put the investment at roughly $75 million with an estimated 90 to 100 jobs.

The developer's response

Kato told Local 4 he does not plan to appeal and does not plan to pursue the data center at that location. In a written statement issued October 20, he said the project "will now proceed in a neighboring municipality."

From the outset, our intention was to direct this investment toward Inkster and its residents. A facility of this scale brings substantial capital, a durable tax base and lasting economic opportunity. Those benefits will now accrue to another community.Robert Kato, Klever Technology Center, in a written statement

His statement went on to compare data center development to the arrival of the automobile, arguing that "the question facing local governments is not whether these facilities will be built, but where."

That framing deserves to be reported, and it also deserves scrutiny. It is an argument made by someone with a financial interest in the answer.

What this actually tells you

Three things worth holding onto.

Showing up worked. This is the part residents should not miss. A project with a Planning Commission recommendation behind it was stopped by people standing in a hallway on a Monday night. Public comment is not decoration. It changed the outcome here.

"No vote" is not the same as "no." Because no motion was made, there is no roll call, no record of which member supported or opposed the project. Residents who want to know where their council member stood do not have a vote to look at. That is worth asking each of them directly, and we intend to.

The questions residents raised were the right ones. Data centers draw significant electricity and, depending on the cooling design, significant water. They run continuously, which makes noise and light a live issue when the site sits near homes. Those are answerable questions, and they should be answered before the next proposal arrives, because there will be one.

What we're still reporting

We have not independently verified the investment figure or the job estimate, both of which come from the developer. We're requesting the Planning Commission's staff report, the conditions attached to its recommendation, and any correspondence between the applicant and the city.

Correction policy: this story is built from the reporting of other outlets and the developer's own public statement, each attributed above. If any detail here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it at the top of this story the same day.

Reporting from WDIV Local 4, CBS News Detroit and FOX 2 Detroit contributed to this account.