An ordinance that would prohibit data centers anywhere in Lawrence Township has been tabled by the Township Council pending further review by the Planning Board.
The amendment to the township’s Land Use Ordinance (LUO) was scheduled for a public hearing and final action at the Township Council’s Nov. 5 meeting. The proposed amendment had been sent to the Planning Board for routine review following its introduction in October.
The Planning Board was asked at its Oct. 19 meeting to determine whether the proposed amendment was consistent with the township’s master plan. The master plan outlines the township’s vision for future development, while the LUO establishes regulations to implement it.
The Planning Board declined to endorse the proposed ban, opting instead to conduct additional research. The board is scheduled to continue its discussion at its Monday, Nov. 16, meeting at 7 p.m. in the lower-level conference room.
According to the proposed amendment, a data center “constitutes a distinct, intensive land use characterized by concentrated computer-server operations and associated electrical, cooling, back-up power, security and communications infrastructure.”
The amendment states that those infrastructure demands and operational characteristics are incompatible with the township’s intended development patterns, infrastructure capacity, environmental constraints and community character.
“The LUO presently prohibits all uses not expressly permitted and the Township Council desires to eliminate uncertainty concerning whether a data center may fall within the broadly described permitted-use category,” the ordinance amendment said.
At the Oct. 19 meeting, Planning Board members debated whether the township could enact an outright ban on data centers or instead establish strict performance standards to regulate their impacts.
Planning Board attorney Ed Schmierer said it would be preferable to establish standards and designate data centers as a conditional use rather than prohibit them outright. A conditional use requires an applicant to meet specific requirements to obtain approval.
Planning Board members agreed that additional research was needed before taking a position on the amendment.
Planning consultant Beth McManus said she would prepare a report for the board to consider, possibly as soon as its Nov. 16 meeting. The proposed amendment is listed on that meeting’s agenda for discussion.
Meanwhile, a data center under construction in neighboring South Brunswick Township is facing opposition from federal and state lawmakers who are calling on New Jersey environmental regulators to halt or reject an air pollution permit for the facility, citing potential health risks to residents of surrounding communities.
U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, state Sen. Andrew Zwicker and Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy announced their opposition in a Nov. 9 letter, submitted on the final day of the public comment period for the proposed New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection permit.
McCoy, whose 14th Legislative District includes Plainsboro Township, called on the DEP to deny the permit because residents of her district could be affected by a project approved in another municipality.
The permit concerns the Sentinel Princeton Nurseries Data Center, a 341,000-square-foot facility under construction on Route 1 at the former Princeton Nurseries property, just across the municipal boundary from Plainsboro Township.
The draft permit covers 12 diesel-powered emergency generators, each rated at 3,620 kilowatts. The generators would provide backup electricity when the facility’s primary power supply is unavailable.
Watson Coleman and Zwicker questioned whether the DEP’s environmental review adequately accounted for the generators’ potential emissions, particularly during extended power outages or other emergency operations.
The two lawmakers acknowledged that data centers play an important role in the economy but said their increasing size and demand for electricity require closer examination.
Watson Coleman has introduced the Data Center Community Impact Act, which would authorize a federal study of the environmental, economic and public health effects of data centers, with particular attention to low-income communities and communities of color.
She also is an original co-sponsor of the federal Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, which would halt construction of new data centers until Congress enacts legislation addressing the risks of artificial intelligence.
Zwicker is a primary sponsor of state legislation that would require the DEP to study the environmental and infrastructure effects of data center development and prohibit construction of new facilities until the study is completed.
The proposed state moratorium would exempt projects already approved or under construction when the legislation takes effect.
In July, Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation establishing a separate utility rate class for large data centers, intended to prevent the facilities’ electricity and infrastructure costs from being passed on to other customers.
