Millburn's Environmental Commission will weigh a proposed ordinance that would ban data centers from every zoning district in the township.

The nine-member commission, chaired by Jude Huang, is scheduled to review Ordinance 2770-26 at its Tuesday, Sept. 8 meeting at 7 p.m. at the Bauer Community Center in Taylor Park. The commission's agenda lists the item for "review, discussion, and possible recommendation."

The ordinance would prohibit data centers in any use category across all of Millburn's zoning districts. It defines data centers broadly to include commercial colocation facilities, cloud-computing operations, server farms, cryptocurrency mining operations and artificial-intelligence computing facilities.

The current proposal is far broader than an earlier version. At the June 18 Township Committee meeting, Township Planner Graham Petto described a draft that "would require a minimum lot size of 10 acres and would limit data centers to specific zoning districts."

Mayor Frank Saccomandi asked to table that draft, saying he wanted more information on the impact to existing businesses. The committee agreed.

Ordinance 2770-26 addresses business concerns with specific exemptions. Server rooms in offices, schools and government buildings would still be allowed. Those rooms cannot exceed 20 percent of the building's floor area or 10,000 square feet, whichever is less. They also cannot draw more than 2 megawatts of dedicated electrical capacity.

Residential data-processing setups under 50 kilowatts are also exempt.

An anti-circumvention clause bars splitting a data center into smaller facilities, tenants, meters or phases to dodge the prohibition.

The Township Committee's rationale, laid out in the ordinance's preamble, cites potential impacts on electrical infrastructure, water resources, air quality, noise and community character. The preamble states data centers "are not an appropriate land use" under Millburn's Master Plan.

At least 25 New Jersey municipalities had adopted data center bans as of July 17, according to ServerCountry.org, a policy tracker. A Stockton University poll released May 5 found 56% of New Jersey voters would support banning data centers in their own town.

At the state level, Governor Mikie Sherrill signed legislation on July 7 creating a new ratepayer class for large data centers. She also signed a separate bill on Aug. 27 requiring data center operators to report water and energy use semiannually. The state Department of Community Affairs issued Local Finance Notice 2026-13 on Aug. 25, providing municipalities guidance on community benefits agreements related to data centers.

Under state law, the ordinance must also go to the Millburn Planning Board for review before a public hearing on adoption.

The commission's Sept. 8 agenda also includes nominating a liaison to the Flood Mitigation Committee and hearing presentations from student environmental group applicants. The next Environmental Commission meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Fireplace Room at Bauer Community Center.