Toms River's township council voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance that would ban data centers, server farms and cryptocurrency-mining facilities everywhere within its borders, even as local officials acknowledge that no company has ever applied to build one there. The move adds Toms River to a fast-growing list of New Jersey municipalities racing to shut the door on an industry that hasn't yet knocked.
No Applications, But a Preemptive Ban Anyway
The ordinance, as reported by the Asbury Park Press, would amend Toms River's zoning regulations to prohibit data centers, server farms and crypto-mining operations throughout the township, including as conditional uses. Toms River's planning and zoning boards have received no data-center applications, according to the same report. Council member David Ciccozzi said the measure was entirely the council majority's initiative, and that the majority was the one who placed it on the meeting agenda.
Council member Daniel Rodrick voiced support for the ban but was not allowed to speak during the meeting, the Asbury Park Press reported. A second reading and public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for Dec. 9 at 5 p.m., when residents will get a formal chance to weigh in before the council takes a final vote.
Why Towns Are Moving Before Developers Even Show Up
Large-scale data centers have drawn scrutiny nationwide for noise from generators and cooling systems, along with heavy water and electricity consumption, concerns that have pushed officials across the state to act preemptively rather than wait for a specific project to fight. Toms River now joins Howell, Manchester, Asbury Park, Red Bank, Berkeley, Millstone, Stafford and Neptune Township among Jersey Shore communities that have banned data-center construction.
Howell's council, for instance, introduced its own ordinance on July 14 and then voted unanimously on Aug. 18 to prohibit data centers in every zoning district, according to New Jersey 101.5. Jersey City became the state's 34th municipality to adopt a ban just days after Howell, voting unanimously to prohibit the facilities in its industrial zones, the station reported. Not every town waiting on an application has one pending, either — in Jackson Township, Councilmember Chris Pollak said bluntly that nobody was looking to start a data center there before that town's ban passed, according to Gothamist.
Statewide Tally Keeps Climbing
Just how many New Jersey towns have enacted bans depends on who's counting and when. The New Jersey Monitor reported in August that nearly three dozen municipalities, including Asbury Park, Neptune, Red Bank, Logan and Millville, had passed bans or restrictions. By early September, Gothamist cited climate activists tracking the trend who put the number at 93 towns statewide. Patch reported that the Climate Revolution Action Network counted more than 100 New Jersey towns and cities with bans as of Oct. 19.
Polling suggests the public mood lines up with the legislative trend. A Stockton University survey conducted in mid-October found that 65% of New Jersey voters opposed a data center in their own town, while just 18% supported one. Voters were far more split when asked about the issue nationally, with 40% in support and 40% opposed, but when the same poll asked about development within New Jersey specifically, opposition rose to 52% versus 29% support. Respondents cited higher electricity bills, chosen by 45%, and effects on the water supply, picked by 43%, as leading concerns. The poll interviewed 667 registered New Jersey voters and carried a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
An earlier Stockton poll from late April found even stronger support for local bans specifically: 56% of voters said they would back banning data centers in their own community, compared with 22% opposed and 21% unsure. That same survey found 84% of voters would support requiring data centers to supply their own new power sources rather than draw from the existing electric grid, with only 9% opposed.
