The Ypsilanti City Council unanimously approved a resolution affirming the City of Ypsilanti's commitment to peace and opposition to the proposed Los Alamos and University of Michigan data center at the council's Oct. 21, 2025 meeting.
Council members met with a packed agenda to tackle, including nine resolutions.
Following the approval of the agenda, which included changes to its order and limits on resolution discussion time, the floor was opened to public comment. Roughly 16 people made comments, both in person and virtually.
Pressing issues for commenters included the proposed data center in Ypsilanti Township, the purchase of three new vehicles for the Ypsilanti Police Department and the need for a year-round warming shelter in the city.
Opposing the data center
Council members approved resolution 2025-222, which affirmed the city's commitment to peace and its opposition to the proposed Los Alamos and UM data center.
The resolution enters Ypsilanti into Mayors for Peace, an international organization for cities dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons. It also recognizes Aug. 6 as Hiroshima Day and Aug. 9 as Nagasaki Day to honor victims of nuclear weapons.
Opposition to the data center was personal for some public commenters. KJ Pedri shared with the council their family connection to nuclear weapons manufacturing.
“My grandpa was a rocket scientist,” Pedri said. He died an alcoholic, they added.
"When I think about the jobs the data center will bring to our area, I think about the impact that nuclear technology will bring to our world," Pedri said.
Environmental impact and ethical concerns were the main opposition to the data center for another public commenter, Aziza Ulabee.
"We as voters — taxpayers — did not consent to have this data center in our midst impacting us negatively," Ulabee said.
Ulabee added that the City of Ypsilanti has a track record of being on the right side of history and should continue to do so by opposing the data center.
"This project has a whole lot of unanswered questions," said Council Member Patrick McLean, who supported the resolution. "Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should."
Development and zoning
The council unanimously passed an ordinance for a planned unit development by applicant Steve Wisinski, an Ypsilanti resident, who hopes to develop 908 N. Congress, a property that has been abandoned for over 20 years.
Wisinski plans to turn the space into a showroom and workshop for creating and selling woodworking creations called the Wood + Watt Project.
“Woodworking is a passion of mine,” Wisinski said. “It’s the right place at the right time.”
He described the lot as an older building with character into which he could breathe life. It would also allow a local woodworking group called Ypsilanti WoodTalk to have a space to build and create, Wisinski said.
Wisinski said he conducted noise testing with his woodworking tools within the building and found that the noise got to the level of a vacuum cleaner, he said.
Resident Daryl Hawley lives two blocks from the proposed building. He said after seeing the lot empty for several years, he considers the proposed woodworking project a positive change for the neighborhood and encouraged council members to approve the request.
An ordinance for a conditional rezoning request was denied by the council upon recommendation by City Planner Joshua Burns.
The rezoning applicant, Musa Enterprises LLC, has owned the properties at 1465 Washtenaw Ave. and 487 Owendale since 2002, where it operates a gas station and auto repair shop. The rezoning request proposed the installation of a parking lot and electric vehicle chargers.
Musa Enterprises was also denied previous rezoning applications in 2009 and 2021.
There have been complaints from neighbors near the property due to misuse and lack of parking, said council member Steven Wilcoxen.
Council Member Amber Fellows expressed their disagreement with rezoning but urged Burns to continue working with the property owner in pursuit of a potential solution. Fellows also emphasized the current lack of electric vehicle chargers in Ypsilanti.
New police vehicles
Ypsilanti Police Chief Timothy Anderson addressed the Council in support of purchasing three new vehicles for the department.
Replacing the vehicles was necessary, Anderson said, because replacement patrol vehicles had not been purchased since 2022.
The three Dodge Durango Interceptor SUVs would cost a total of $135,408. That total does not include the additional outfitting necessary for police vehicles.
Anderson emphasized the excessive wear, mileage and maintenance costs patrol cars endure.
Council Member Fellows pressed Anderson on the department's choice to purchase three vehicles despite the city's 2025-26 fiscal year budget only allocating funds for two.
“If we don’t need to use it, let’s not, so we can have money to use for situations that are very pressing,” Fellows said.
Fellows proposed to amend the resolution to instead purchase two vehicles. The amendment did not pass.
The resolution ultimately passed in its entirety, with only Council Member Fellows voting against the purchase.
