A moratorium prohibits the review or issuance of any applications, permits, rezonings, licenses, or approvals for data centers. It lasts for 12 months from the resolution’s effective date, or until data-center zoning amendments take effect, whichever occurs first; the Township Board may extend it once for up to six additional months. The resolution must be published within seven days and becomes effective after publication.

The moratorium applies to data centers broadly defined as structures principally housing information-technology infrastructure and equipment for applications and digital-data storage, including cryptocurrency-mining and artificial-intelligence facilities.

Outside the moratorium, the zoning use table lists data centers as permitted only by special-use approval in the I-2 High Intensity Industrial District; they are not listed as permitted in the A, RE, R, C, or I districts.

A data center would require site-plan approval because the ordinance requires site-plan approval for any new use, new structure, or change to an existing structure’s footprint or height, subject only to listed exemptions that do not cover a new data center.

A data center requiring special-use approval must undergo a public hearing, Planning Commission review, and a decision based on compatibility with surrounding uses, the Master Plan, public services, traffic, detrimental effects, and the natural environment. The Planning Commission may impose conditions.

Special-use approval expires if construction has not commenced, or has not made reasonable progress, within 12 months after final approval. An extension may be requested before expiration, but total extensions may not exceed an additional 12 months and the plan must conform to current zoning standards.

Applications may require filing fees and deposits for Township consultants, including planning, engineering, legal, and similar reviews. The applicant must pay consultant costs, and review may be suspended if required fees or deposits are not paid.

A site-plan or special-use application may require detailed information about the data center and site, including building size and height, traffic and circulation, utilities, drainage, wetlands, floodplains, groundwater impacts, hazardous materials, environmental impacts, landscaping, parking, loading, and emergency access.

Data centers must comply with the Township’s performance standards, including limits of 45 dBA Lmax or 55 dBC Lmax for regularly generated noise, prohibitions on disruptive changes to surface-water flow, controls on airborne dust and debris, restrictions on offensive odors, and a glare limit of 0.5 foot-candles at the property line.

In the I-2 district, a data-center site must meet a minimum lot area of 817,200 square feet and minimum lot width of 660 feet, with minimum setbacks of 150 feet from the front, 100 feet from each side, and 150 feet from the rear.

Parking for a data center is required at a minimum rate of one space per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. Loading space must also be provided for buildings involving the receipt or distribution of materials, with at least one 10-by-50-foot loading space generally required for buildings of 5,000 to 19,999 square feet and additional spaces for larger buildings.

The Township may require a performance guarantee equal to 125% of the estimated cost of required improvements, such as landscaping, berms, walls, lighting, driveways, parking, traffic improvements, sidewalks, timely construction, wetland work, or reclamation.

Data centers are recognized as an allowable land use by special-use permit in the I-2 High Intensity Industrial District, rather than being prohibited outright. The use must satisfy the special-use and site-plan approval requirements. The permitted-use table lists Data Center as special-use permitted in I-2.

The data-center standards section imposes no additional use-specific standards beyond the applicable district, site-plan, special-use, and general ordinance requirements. The Data Center entry states “Standards. No additional standards.”

Data centers have a specified off-street parking requirement of one space per 1,000 square feet, providing a defined parking standard rather than requiring the Planning Commission to determine a standard for an unlisted use. The parking schedule lists Data Center at one space per 1,000 square feet.

Site-plan applications may be submitted electronically and are placed on the next open Planning Commission agenda after all required materials and fees are submitted. The site-plan process permits electronic submission and placement on the next open agenda.

A site-plan applicant has up to two years from formal submission to obtain final approval, after which a new application is required. The ordinance provides a maximum two-year period to achieve final approval.

After final site-plan approval, construction may begin within 12 months, and the Planning Commission may grant extensions totaling up to an additional 12 months if the required conditions are met. The ordinance allows extensions of site-plan approval totaling up to 12 months.

Special-use approval remains valid if ownership changes, subject to the approved conditions and final site plan. This protects an approved data center from losing its special-use approval solely because the property is sold. The ordinance states that special-use approval remains valid regardless of change of ownership.

A lawfully established data center that later becomes nonconforming may generally continue, may continue after a change in tenancy or ownership, and is not automatically eliminated by later zoning changes. The protection is limited: the use generally cannot be enlarged or extended, and a nonconforming use in a structure may cease after 12 months of non-use. The nonconformity provisions allow lawful nonconforming uses to continue and state that ownership changes have no effect.

Essential utility services, including electric, water, sewer, communication, and similar infrastructure, are permitted in all zoning districts, subject to applicable review. This can support utility infrastructure serving a data center, although the provision does not guarantee that infrastructure will be provided. Essential Services are listed as permitted across the zoning districts.