Little Egg Harbor is now taking steps to prevent data centers from coming into the township.
At its Oct. 8 meeting, the township committee introduced an ordinance to amend the land use and development code to add data centers to the “prohibited uses” section.
“There is some new legislation. We’ve talked about this a lot, and we’ve talked to our planning engineer and our township attorney, so we wanted to introduce this ordinance,” Mayor Ken Laney said during the meeting.
Over the past year, some residents have raised the issue at township and planning board meetings, asking about the possibility of data centers being constructed in the township. As large residential projects have been approved, over-development and environmental impacts have become a major concern for many.
Data centers have become increasingly controversial nationwide, and in New Jersey, more than 80 are currently operational. Some lawmakers have pushed for regulation as environmental and security concerns mount.
The ordinance defines a data center as a facility “(1) whose primary services are the storage, management, and processing of digital data; and (2) that is used to house computer and network systems, including associated components such as servers, network equipment and appliances, telecommunications, and data storage systems, systems for monitoring and managing infrastructure performance, Internet related equipment and services, data communications connections, environmental controls, fire protection systems, and security systems and services.”
The public will be able to offer comments during the second reading of Ordinance 2026-26 at the next township committee meeting, on Nov. 12.
