VBT planners vote to OK Ashley Capital’s zoning amendment

After almost an hour of discussion on Dec. 10, the Van Buren Township Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval to the township board of an amendment to a conditional zoning agreement for Ashley Capital.
The motion by vice-chairman Jeff Jahr was long and there were several stipulations, including having the township attorney review the action to make sure it was legal.
Commissioners first held a public hearing on the change, at which no public spoke. Then they tried to understand the request to amend a conditional rezoning agreement that was approved by the township in 2019 to make way for OUR Next Energy who wanted to create lithium ion batteries there.
This was for the Ashley Crossroads North Building 6 site at 42060 Ecorse Rd.
Kyle Morton of Ashley Capital said they started in 2019 to make a site for OUR Next Energy, but plans for the project were too optimistic and two-thirds of the building is empty now. He said the condition to allow only the OUR Next Energy M-T (Industrial Transportation) use for the building is difficult to follow.
He said Ashley Capital would like to keep OUR Next Energy in the one-third of the building where it is and allow other M-T uses in the other two-thirds. M-T was the original intent of the zoning before the condition. When asked what tenants they would have, he said it would be like others in the development, such as Fed Ex and Scholastic Wholesale Books.
OUR Next Energy has a pilot line, a miniature line, he explained. It is in the northeast part of the building and they have a drastically scaled-back program and don’t want to pay rent on the whole building, Morton said.
It was noted the M-1 (General Industrial) zoning uses are included in M-T zoning uses and Morton said he would put in writing that they would only get tenants that are M-T zoned, but not the M-1 uses.
Monique Kurdowski in the audience voiced concerns about the zoning ordinance and how M-1 zoning allows data centers by right. She said the electrical grid cannot handle a hyper data center.
Vice-chairman Jeff Jahr said that possibly the township zoning ordinance and the state ordinance that allows this are in conflict.
Planning consultant Vidya Krishnan of McKenna Associates said maybe the township should change its wording. She said she will look at the language to make sure it is more clear and they can ask the attorney to review it before the township board votes on the amendment at a future meeting.
In other business at the three-hour-and-39-minute meeting, the commission:
• Re-elected for 2026 chairperson Brian Cullin, vice-chairman Jeff Jahr, secretary Medina Atchinson, and primary liaison to the Board of Zoning Appeals Brian Cullin. Jahr said he was unable to continue as secondary liaison to the BZA for the next year, so Bernie Grant was recommended to the township board for appointment to that position;
• Approved meeting dates for 2026 and all are on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 5:30 p.m., except for the November and December meetings, which will be the first and third Wednesdays. There would only be one meeting during those two months if they kept to the regular second and fourth Wednesday which could lead to very long agendas;
• Unanimously approved amending the site plan for Chahal Trucking at 6100 Schooner Dr. concerning landscaping and the redesigned pond. No one was present from the repair facility or Davenport Brothers Construction, who requested the amendment on behalf of owner Sdukhdev Singh;
• Unanimously approved a one-year extension on the final site plan for Brookwood Senior Housing, which is located on the north side of Tyler Road, east of Morton Taylor and west of Springwood Blvd. Chris Garner said they now have the capital and plan to begin building in the spring; and
• Announced a public meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. the next day, Dec. 11, to introduce plans for a data center on 280 acres between Haggerty and Hannan roads and the I-94 North Service Drive and I-275. This area had been in competition for the Stellantis warehouse and had meetings with neighbors in November 2024.