The Data Center Divide
A policy snapshot ahead of the 2026 midterms. Mapping data center incentives, restrictions, and bans through legislation, regulations, and executive actions across all 50 states and 1,462 local jurisdictions.
Burlington Township
This restriction takes precedence while in effect. The rating below excludes temporary restrictions.
Mixed Data Center Policies
Burlington Township’s ordinance is labeled enacted, though its description says it would prohibit data centers township-wide unless a future review and Council approval allow them; small accessory server rooms are excluded.
Rating from New Jersey statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for Burlington Township.
current law · Township of BurlingtonProhibits data centers in all Burlington Township zones and defines them broadly to include facilities supporting cloud computing, cryptocurrency mining, artificial-intelligence processing, and other high-density digital infrastructure.Burlington Township Ordinance 2026-OR-012 (2026)
What this means
The measure would prohibit data centers throughout Burlington Township unless a later master-plan review recommends them and Council then decides to allow them (“data centers are prohibited within the Township”). A small accessory server room is excluded from the definition, but that exception does not change the broad ban on building or operating data centers.
Timing
- Ends
- When the next master plan reexamination report recommends data centers and the Council determines that data centers should be permitted with appropriate development regulations.
The ordinance prohibits data centers unless and until both conditions occur. No fixed expiration date or extension condition is stated.
People behind it
- Township Council of Burlington
Introduced and adopted Ordinance 2026-OR-012, which amends the Land Development Code to define and prohibit data centers.
- Mary E. Field
Municipal Clerk responsible for issuing required notices, referring the ordinance to the Planning Board, filing the adopted ordinance, and certifying its passage.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements4
Data centers are prohibited in all Township zones under Chapter 330-34, subsection K(12).
The prohibition remains in effect unless and until the next master plan reexamination recommends data centers and the Township Council determines that they should be permitted with appropriate development regulations; no specific deadline is provided.
The definition is broad and applies regardless of labeling, including cloud-computing infrastructure, cryptocurrency-mining operations, artificial-intelligence processing facilities, and other high-density digital infrastructure uses.
Accessory server rooms are excluded from the data-center definition only when they are limited to the lesser of 2% of the principal structure's gross floor area or 2,000 square feet.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions1
Accessory server rooms are excluded from the data-center definition, allowing subordinate server and networking spaces within another facility to operate without being subject to the data-center prohibition, if they are no larger than the lesser of 2% of the principal structure’s gross floor area or 2,000 square feet.
Sources
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