Ordinance 2026-15 prohibits data centers, whether principal or accessory uses, in every zoning district within Holland Township.

Under Ordinance 2026-06, data centers would be limited to the Industrial Park District and allowed only as conditional uses requiring approval under the ordinance's procedures and standards.

A data center or accessory use would have to be set back 1,000 feet from residential zoning-district boundaries and from any property line containing a sensitive receptor, such as a residence, school, daycare, community center, place of worship, park, campground, prison, or dormitory.

The maximum data-center building height would be 45 feet, including roof-mounted equipment, and accessory uses could not exceed 50% of the principal building's height.

A landscape buffer at least 50 feet wide would be required beside residential zoning districts, sensitive receptors, and public roadways, with specified minimum numbers, sizes, and types of trees and shrubs. Existing vegetation or topography could count only if approved by the Land Use Board based on recommendations from the Township Engineer and Planning Commission.

Cooling, ventilation, power-generation, and other operating equipment within 500 feet of a public roadway, residential zoning district, or sensitive receptor would have to be fully enclosed or screened by specified landscaping, vegetation, buildings, berms, or solid screening, unless enclosure is not mechanically feasible.

Roadside and private-road fencing could not use chain link, with or without slatted inserts, or barbed wire and similar visibly intrusive deterrents, unless the fencing is fully screened.

Applicants would have to demonstrate through professional sound studies that normal operations do not exceed 67 dB(A) during weekday daytime hours or 57 dB(A) during weekday nighttime and weekend hours, measured at the property line.

Noise studies would be required during the conditional-use process, building-permit process, and six months after issuance of the certificate of occupancy; an additional as-built study could later be required by the Township. Emergency-power operation would be evaluated in the studies, although the ordinary decibel limits would not apply during power outages.

Applicants would have to provide a professional vibration study demonstrating that vibration from the data center, accessory uses, and related equipment would not be perceptible beyond the property line.

Projects using public water would require certification from the public authority that it can supply the needed water. Projects using nonpublic water would require a water-feasibility study addressing supply, withdrawals, discharges, wells, surface waters, groundwater, and related technical information.

Projects within the Delaware River Basin would have to provide Delaware River Basin Commission approval for withdrawals of at least 100,000 gallons per day averaged over 30 days or consumptive use of at least 20,000 gallons per day averaged over 30 days.

Applicants would have to demonstrate that domestic, cooling, and industrial wastewater-disposal facilities had been provided and approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Applicants connecting to the electric grid would have to obtain certification from the electric provider that sufficient capacity is available and that service will be provided, and would have to identify known project-related impacts on electric rates or availability.

Any energy-generation system intended to supply a data center during normal operations would be treated as a separate use and would require approval under the zoning rules applicable to that use.

A qualified professional would have to prepare an Emergency Response Plan addressing fire suppression, containment, ventilation, evacuation, emergency access, hydrants, first-responder training, and annual fire-safety inspections, with review and acceptance by the local fire department and emergency-management services.

Data centers proposing battery or other energy storage would have to comply with NFPA Standard 855 or similar standards and install fire-suppression systems specifically designed for battery storage.

A data center building façade facing a road, zoning district, or existing residential use would have to include at least two specified design features every 150 horizontal feet, such as changes in materials, height, or five-foot-deep step-backs or recesses.

Data centers would have to provide parking at a rate of one space per 8,000 square feet of regularly employee-accessible floor area or one space per employee during the largest shift, whichever is less.

Violations of the data-center requirements could result in civil and criminal penalties under Township Code Section 100-160, and the Township could seek injunctive relief to stop continuing violations.

Data centers are allowed as conditional uses in the Industrial Zoning District, subject to the ordinance’s approval standards and procedures.

The ordinance expressly permits data center accessory uses on the same tract or on adjacent parcels developed as a unified project, including administrative, storage, security, electrical-substation, utility-line, cooling, water, wastewater, pump-station, and fire-suppression facilities.

Temporary emergency generators and other temporary power equipment are recognized as data center accessory uses, allowing backup-power infrastructure to be included with the project.

Existing topography and vegetation may be credited toward all or part of the required buffer when the Land Use Board, based on recommendations from the Township Engineer and Planning Commission, finds that it adequately screens the facility.

Data centers may have a maximum building height of 45 feet, including roof-mounted cooling and ventilation equipment, while accessory uses may reach up to 50% of the principal building’s height.

The parking requirement is limited to the lesser of one space per 8,000 square feet of regularly accessible employee floor area or one space per employee during the largest shift.

The ordinance establishes a defined approval framework requiring preliminary, interim, and as-built sound studies rather than prohibiting data centers outright.

The specified noise limits do not apply during power outages, although sound studies must report anticipated noise levels when emergency power equipment, including backup generators, is operating.

Energy-generation systems used to supply a data center during normal operations are treated as a separate use rather than as part of the data center use, allowing them to be reviewed under the zoning rules applicable to that type of energy facility.