Lansing City Council Meeting: April 6, 2026

LANSING, Mich. — Deep Green Technologies withdrew its data center proposal before the Lansing City Council could vote on it. At the April 6 meeting, the mayor confirmed the withdrawal, one council member read the statement she would have delivered, and members of the public spoke about what the seven-month fight revealed about how the city makes decisions.

The Withdrawal

Mayor Andy Schor confirmed that both the buy-sell agreement and the rezoning request have been withdrawn. "These are withdrawn. They are no longer up for consideration," Schor told council. "If something were to be filed, it would have to go all the way back through the zoning process. The contracts would start all over again."

Council Member Trini Pehlivanoglu pressed for clarity: "I just want to make clear this item is not something that's tabled or postponed. It is completely off the table." Schor confirmed.

Nevarez Martinez's Prepared Statement

Council Member Deyanira Nevarez Martinez read aloud the statement she would have delivered had the vote occurred. Nevarez Martinez holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy from UC Irvine and is an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at Michigan State University.

"At its core, this proposal is not just a data center," she said. "It includes a 16 megawatt natural gas powered fuel cell facility located in a dense mixed-use downtown near homes, businesses, and the heart of our city's and our state's civic life."

Her core objection was a planning question: "Do I believe a power plant belongs in downtown Lansing? My professional opinion is no."

She announced she had shared a draft ordinance with the city attorney that day, one that would prohibit data centers in commercial and downtown commercial districts and require discretionary review in industrial districts. "This issue is not over," she said. "We are still going to be the target of folks wanting to place these in our community."

Separately, Mike Smalligan, who identified himself as the newest member of the Mayor's Advisory Commission on Sustainability, told the council that the commission has "already drafted a resolution regarding data centers putting environmental sideboards on the process" and that the draft is "on the city attorney's desk." Two separate bodies produced data center regulatory proposals that did not exist before the community fought the Deep Green project for seven months.

Public Comment and Vote Count

Across both the Committee of the Whole and the regular session, every member of the public who spoke about Deep Green opposed the project or expressed relief at the withdrawal. None spoke in favor.

The April 6 agenda packet contained approximately 96 written communications. Roughly 50 opposed the project. Roughly 46 supported it, but 38 of those were form letters routed through The Soft Edge, an advocacy platform, using five rotating templates. Deep Green's own architecture firm (C2AE), the Lansing Regional Chamber CEO, and the Chamber's Senior Vice President all submitted letters through The Soft Edge. Seven support letters were original, including one on State of Michigan letterhead from the Acting Director of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

At the March 23 public hearing, 43 residents spoke against the project and 6 spoke for it.

Multiple April 6 speakers credited specific council members for opposing the project, naming Ryan Kost, Adam Hussein, and Deyanira Nevarez Martinez. Others referred to "the three" without naming them. No speaker credited any other council member for opposing the project.

Jody Washington, a former council member who sits on the Charter Commission, said she had spoken with someone "very knowledgeable" who told her Deep Green was "waiting to see the vote of the wild card" (Nevarez Martinez) "and that if she was going to vote no, they were going to pull it because it would be political suicide for the other five." Washington is the mother of Council Member Hussein, who was one of the three firm no votes. She thanked Kost, Hussein, and Nevarez Martinez, then addressed the rest of the council: "For the rest of you, shame on you." She told the mayor to stop putting up apartment buildings on every piece of available land and bring real jobs instead. "I'm sorry your administration has gone south. I'm sorry this council's quite inept. So please leave the land empty until we get another mayor and another council that has vision, a plan, critical thinking, and we can move forward."

The Numbers

Raphael Solis Jr. cited calculations by Erik Nordman, Director of the MSU Institute of Public Utilities. Based on data provided by BWL, the Bloom Energy fuel cells would have produced approximately 105 million pounds of CO2 annually, enough to fill the Breslin Center arena every 19 hours, more than 460 times per year.

Heidi Fry cited the EPA's social cost of carbon at $85 per metric ton, yielding approximately $4.3 million annually in social costs from the project's emissions. That $85 figure is the older EPA interim estimate; the agency's December 2023 central estimate of $190 per metric ton would put the annual social cost at approximately $9 million.

The Mayor's Response

After the withdrawal, Mayor Schor told WKAR: "As this property will remain empty parking lots, I ask all those who suggested housing on these parcels to provide their proposals for development into housing. I agree that would be great for this area, and I look forward to seeing those proposals and financing to make this happen."

Matt Ridzki, a Cherry Hill neighborhood resident, responded at the meeting. "It seems that the mayor did not see it as his job or his administration's responsibility to bring in investment proposals or developers." Ridzki said he had Googled real estate conferences in the area and found one in Grand Rapids in three weeks and another in Detroit in June. "Does the city have representatives going to those meetings?" he asked.

What the Community Asked For

Multiple speakers called for a data center moratorium, including Ivan Droste ("I call for city council to pass a moratorium on data centers as many municipalities have"), Betsy Sneller, and Cody O'Neal. Speakers announced plans for statewide anti-data-center rallies on April 11.

Loretta Stanaway and Mike Smalligan both raised concerns about BWL's plan to build a heat station in Wentworth Park as part of the steam-to-hot-water conversion. Wentworth Park is a small downtown pocket park whose central feature is a 9/11 memorial built around a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center, where the city holds annual commemoration ceremonies. Smalligan told the council that BWL's plan would destroy the 9/11 memorial and the oldest trees in the city to make room for a hot water plant. Per WLNS reporting, the heat station would be approximately 4,000 square feet and cost $5 million.

In written responses to Council Member Pehlivanoglu included in the April 6 agenda packet, BWL General Manager Dick Peffley called Wentworth Park "the only viable option" for the first hot water plant. Stanaway asked why BWL plans to fund the conversion with bonds backed by the city's full faith and credit, rather than charging the commercial customers who benefit from the upgrade.

Jerry Norris asked whether downtown building owners know what they will need to do when the heating system converts. "Do the buildings and the houses downtown know?"

Deborah Mohei asked two questions the city has not answered. She asked for a formal posting of the withdrawal from both the city and Deep Green. She asked how Deep Green "ever came to the city of Lansing and the Board of Water and Light" and whether "the process that was followed was the proper process."

Other Business

Council Member Jeremy Garza, whose union (UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 333, where Garza serves as Vice President) co-signed a joint labor-business advocacy statement with the Lansing Regional Chamber on March 23, made no statement about the Deep Green withdrawal at the April 6 meeting.

The council unanimously passed a rental property certification ordinance amendment requiring landlords to provide information to tenants at the time of occupancy.

Michael Lynn Jr. was sworn in as the Third Ward member of the Board of Fire Commissioners.

Leo Ron of Ron Holdings LLC presented a request for an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act tax abatement district at 418 Baker Street. Ron told the council he owns "a little over 200 properties" in Lansing and has been investing since 2008, and the OPRA district was referred to committee without opposition.

Sources

April 6, 2026 Committee of the Whole and City Council regular session, City of Lansing. All speaker quotes are from the meeting recordings; verbatim accuracy is subject to audio quality. WKAR, "Proposed data center won't move forward in Lansing as Deep Green withdraws," Andrew Roth, April 6, 2026. Written communications count from April 6, 2026 agenda packet (pp. 136-459). March 23 speaker count from March 23, 2026 City Council public hearing. Erik Nordman credentials via MSU Institute of Public Utilities faculty page. EPA social cost of carbon from the December 2023 EPA SCGHG Report. Wentworth Park 9/11 memorial confirmed via lansingmi.gov and WILX coverage of annual ceremonies. Nevarez Martinez credentials from MSU CANR faculty directory. Washington's Charter Commission membership per City of Lansing Boards and Commissions roster, March 12, 2026. Garza's Local 333 title per UA Local 333 LM-2 filing, DOL OLMS, FY2025. Joint labor-business advocacy statement published by the Lansing Regional Chamber, March 23, 2026. Peffley "only viable option" quote from written responses to Pehlivanoglu, April 6, 2026 agenda packet (pp. 216-220). Heat station specifications from WLNS via Yahoo News, April 6, 2026. Rental property certification ordinance (Chapter 1460) passed 8-0 on roll call vote at the April 6 regular session.