Electronic data centers are expressly permitted only in the HD/OCI, I-3, I-1, and SED districts; uses not specifically permitted in the applicable district are prohibited.

A zoning permit is required before a data center or other structure may be constructed, altered, occupied, or used, and a zoning permit is required before a building permit or certificate of occupancy may be issued.

Development generally requires Land Use Planning Board approval, site plan review, and a site development permit before construction or site improvements. The site development permit requires approved plans and agreements, a $250 fee, and an initial $1,000 escrow; it expires after one year and is not transferable.

Applicants must satisfy professional completeness and review requirements, with review costs charged against applicant escrows.

Nonresidential data-center development generally incurs a 2.5% fee based on the equalized assessed value of qualifying new construction, additions, or replacement construction, with statutory exemptions; 50% is due at building-permit issuance and the balance at the certificate of occupancy.

Data-center projects must demonstrate compliance with performance standards addressing traffic, building and parking design, lighting, buffers, landscaping, stormwater, sewage and water supply, waste, environmental impacts, glare, heat, noise, odor, ventilation, vibration, air pollution, liquid wastes, radiation, and fire or explosion hazards.

If the future occupant or use is unknown, performance-standard compliance must be documented before a certificate of occupancy, and a new application and certificate of occupancy are required when the user changes.

In the HD/OCI district, an applicant must choose either Option A or Option B, and the options are mutually exclusive.

An HD/OCI Option B data-center project requires at least a 30-acre tract and 500-foot tract width; light-industry or office uses are limited to 400,000 square feet in no more than two structures on at least 17 contiguous acres.

HD/OCI projects must be served by central sewer and water and provide approved paved, curbed, drained, and lighted roads.

HD/OCI electronic data centers must provide three parking spaces for every four employees during the maximum shift; no additional parking is required based on gross floor area.

SED data centers must be located on lots of at least 15 acres and comply with specified setbacks, including 75 feet from Route 10, 50 feet from Ridgedale Avenue, and 100 feet from adjacent residential zones or lots, as well as limits of 30% building coverage, 60% lot coverage, and 75 feet in principal-building height.

SED development must maintain a 100-foot vegetated buffer from buildings along lot lines adjacent to existing residential uses or zones.

Every SED parcel must provide passenger-vehicle access to both Route 10 and Ridgedale Avenue, potentially requiring easements or a private-road network.

SED electronic data centers must provide three parking spaces for every four employees during the peak shift, with parking on the same lot and outside specified yard setbacks.

SED projects involving deliveries or shipments must provide off-street loading facilities, with restrictions on loading-dock orientation near public streets and residential zones and required screening of loading areas.

SED data centers are subject to performance standards controlling fire and explosion hazards, smoke, waste, vibration, noise, glare, dust, fumes, vapors, and gases.

I-3 data centers must provide a permanent residential-edge buffer beginning at 100 feet and increasing with building height; buildings over 35 feet require a line-of-sight analysis.

I-3 electronic data centers must provide three parking spaces for every four employees during the maximum shift, with parking on the same lot and outside specified front, street-side, and residential setbacks.

I-3 data centers are subject to performance standards governing fire and explosion hazards, smoke, waste discharges, vibration, noise, glare, and airborne particles or emissions.

In the I-1 district, a 100-foot side or rear yard is required where the property borders a residential zone, and manufacturing activities must occur in fully enclosed buildings.

For electronic data centers in the I-3, I-1, and HD/OCI districts, rooftop mechanical equipment may cover no more than 30% of the roof area, and no mechanical equipment may exceed eight feet above the roofline.

Development adding one or more acres of impervious surface is classified as a major development and must limit post-development peak runoff to pre-development levels for two-year, ten-year, and one-hundred-year storms and meet additional water-quality detention requirements.

Tree removal generally requires a permit for trees at least six inches in diameter at breast height; development applications must identify and preserve vegetation where feasible, generally may not remove more than 60% of existing tree canopy, and may require replacement trees or equivalent payments.

More than two cubic yards of excavation, soil disturbance, or grade alteration requires a lot grading permit, professionally prepared plans, a $250 fee, and an engineering escrow; a New Jersey-licensed professional engineer must certify final grading before a certificate of occupancy.

Soil moving requires a permit. More than 100 cubic yards within 12 consecutive months or operations presenting specified drainage, erosion, or development concerns require a major permit with a public hearing, a performance guaranty of at least $2,000, additional fees, and operating-hour limits.

Development in flood areas requires Planning Board approval and additional elevation, drainage, floodproofing, and watercourse information; floodway activities generally require specific NJDEP and Planning Board approval, and habitable floors in flood hazard areas must be at least two feet above mapped flood elevations with no cellars.

Within wellhead protection areas, activities involving potential pollutant sources require an approved operations and contingency plan and best-management practices; potential pollutant sources are prohibited in specified Tier 1 and Tier 2 areas.

If a data center uses antenna-related equipment, its equipment cabinet or structure may not exceed 200 square feet or 12 feet in height; for buildings under 65 feet tall, an unmanned equipment structure may not be located on the roof, and rooftop equipment structures and related equipment may occupy no more than 10% of the roof area.

Permanent signs serving a data center require a sign permit, generally carry a $50 application fee, and must be completed within 180 days or the permit becomes void.

Data-center signs may not be billboards, revolving, flashing, animated, wind, portable, roof, projecting, intermittent, beacon, neon, or sandwich-board signs; signs higher than 25 feet and wall signs larger than 200 square feet are also prohibited.

Illuminated signs must use indirect or diffused lighting, prevent light spillage, comply with shielding and intensity limits, and generally may not illuminate toward residential property between 11:00 p.m. and dusk.

Electronic data centers are expressly permitted in the HD/OCI Zone, including among the light-industry/office uses available under Option B.

HD/OCI Option B allows up to 400,000 square feet of light-industry/office development in no more than two structures, subject to a tract of at least 30 acres and 500 feet of width, with the light-industry/office uses distributed over at least 17 contiguous acres.

HD/OCI data-center parking is based on three spaces for every four employees during the maximum shift, with no additional parking required based on gross floor area.

Electronic data centers are expressly permitted as principal uses in the SED Special Economic Development Industrial District.

The SED District supports large-scale development with a minimum 15-acre lot, maximum 30% building coverage, maximum 60% lot coverage, principal buildings up to 75 feet high, parking structures up to 65 feet high, and more than one principal building on a lot.

SED parking for electronic data centers is based on three spaces per four employees during the peak shift, without an additional gross-floor-area requirement.

SED parking requirements may be reduced through shared parking when uses have different peak-use periods and the applicant submits an approved Shared Parking Plan prepared by a licensed engineer or planner.

The Planning Board may waive SED engineering, construction, design, and certain site-plan-submission requirements when the waiver is needed to achieve SED objectives and does not jeopardize public health or safety.

Environmental-impact-statement requirements under the specified township provision do not apply to SED applications.

SED parcels must have passenger-vehicle access to both Route 10 and Ridgedale Avenue, including through easements or a private-road network.

SED developers generally cannot be required to construct or contribute to off-tract improvements unless more than 50% of the need is caused by the proposed development, and any required contribution is limited to the developer's fair share.

Electronic data centers are listed as permitted uses in both the I-3 Light Industry Zone and the I-1 Light Industry Zone.

In the I-3 Zone, data-center parking is based on three spaces per four employees during the maximum shift, with no additional spaces required based on gross floor area.

I-3 data centers are exempt from the otherwise applicable loading-facility requirement.

Electronic data centers in the I-3, I-1, and HD/OCI Zones may use rooftop mechanical equipment covering up to 30% of the roof area; the equipment may not exceed eight feet above the roofline.

Where the applicable height provision allows it, building height may be increased to 65 feet if the applicant provides an additional one foot of yard depth for each foot of height above 35 feet.

Qualifying HD/OCI development is exempt from specified subdivision, site-plan application, escrow, housing, and off-tract-improvement cost-sharing fees, except for specified roadway and access improvements; Option B requires specified roadway and affordable-housing contributions.

SED development is exempt from specified affordable-housing development fees and certain off-tract-improvement requirements, but must make a $1 million voluntary builder contribution in four $250,000 installments.

HD/OCI projects must receive central sewer and water service, which the Township is obligated to provide on a priority basis; applicants remain responsible for normal on-site drainage improvements.

HD/OCI developments may use approved public or private paved roads under specified right-of-way and cartway standards, and the Option B light-industry/office portion must have two separate access roads to the mixed-commercial portion.

The Planning Board may waive HD/OCI engineering, construction, and design requirements, including requirements in other Township ordinances, when necessary to achieve HD/OCI objectives and when public health and safety are not jeopardized.

For applicable site plans, the Planning Board must act within 45 days for smaller qualifying plans or 95 days for larger plans; failure to act within the applicable period constitutes approval, subject to completeness and extension rules.

Preliminary approval generally protects approved use requirements, layout and design standards, lot size, yard dimensions, and off-tract-improvement terms for three years, with possible extensions of at least one year and up to two additional years; changes needed for public health and safety remain permitted.

Final approval generally protects the applicable zoning requirements and other rights granted at final approval for two years, with possible one-year extensions up to three times, subject to recording and other approval conditions.

A municipal agency may conditionally approve an otherwise compliant project while a legal barrier is removed or another governmental approval is obtained, rather than denying or refusing to process the application.

A lawful existing use or building that no longer conforms to current zoning may continue, although it generally may not be enlarged in a way that creates additional nonconformity and is presumed abandoned after one year of cessation.

The validity period of an approval is suspended while specified litigation, governmental directives, or court orders prevent the developer from proceeding, provided the developer is otherwise ready, willing, and able to proceed.