Parsippany-Troy Hills Township
Mixed Data Center Policies
New Jersey requires large data centers to cover much of their electricity costs and offer demand flexibility; reporting and construction rules add paperwork and costs. Tax incentives are available only to qualifying projects, while regulators study possible electricity-cost effects.
Rating and summary from New Jersey statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for Parsippany-Troy Hills Township.
current law · Township of Parsippany-Troy HillsPermits “digital data storage warehouses” in the SED-3, SED-3A, SED-5, SED-5A, and SED-10 districts, subject to applicable performance standards and Article VI bulk requirements, including enclosed or screened storage of materials and equipment, required buffers, landscaped setbacks, parking, and loading restrictions.Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Code, Chapter 430 (Zoning)—Digital Data Storage Warehouses/Data Centers
People behind it
- Township Council of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills
Municipal legislative body that introduced and considered Ordinance 2025:14 amending the permitted uses in Chapter 430, § 430-141.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements8
Data centers, treated as digital data storage warehouses, are confined to the SED-3, SED-3A, SED-5, SED-5A, and SED-10 districts and must comply with applicable performance standards and district intensity limits. Digital data storage warehouses are listed as a permitted use, subject to those limitations.
A data center on an SED-3 lot adjoining a residential district generally requires a landscaped, fenced, or bermed buffer at least 50 feet deep, plus 5 additional feet for each 10-foot interval or fraction by which the principal building exceeds 25 feet in height. The SED-3 buffer requirement does not apply where the lot line coincides with a state or federal highway.
A data center on an SED-5 or SED-10 lot adjoining a residential district generally requires a buffer at least 150 feet deep, unless the lot line coincides with a state or federal highway. The SED-5 and SED-10 buffer requirement can reduce the developable area.
Materials and equipment must be kept inside completely enclosed buildings or screened from outside the lot by walls, fences, landscaping, or a combination approved as adequate by the Planning Board. The storage-screening requirement can add construction and site-design requirements.
Lots fronting Route 10 or Route 46 must provide a minimum 25-foot landscaped green-area setback along the street right-of-way. The landscaped green-area setback limits the placement of data-center buildings and site improvements.
Required off-street parking must be provided on the same lot as the building, and parking areas must be at least 10 feet from side and rear lot lines in SED-3 and SED-5 districts and at least 20 feet away in SED-10 districts. The parking-location and setback rules also prohibit parking or loading areas within required buffer or landscaped green areas.
Data-center development must comply with the applicable SED district height, area, and other bulk standards in the zoning schedule. The district bulk-requirements provision limits the size and configuration of development.
Data-center signage is limited to the requirements of the Township's sign regulations. The SED sign provision requires compliance with Article XXXVIII rather than allowing unrestricted signage.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions3
Digital data storage warehouses are expressly permitted in the SED-3, 3A, 5, 5A, and 10 districts, subject to the district’s performance standards and other zoning requirements.
Accessory uses customary and incidental to a permitted use are allowed on the same lot, including caretaker or watchman quarters, employee cafeterias, limited showrooms, banks, and other listed support uses, subject to applicable size, location, licensing, and operational limits.
Executive or administrative offices are permitted in the SED districts; in SED-3A and SED-5A, offices not existing before March 14, 2000, must be ancillary to another principal permitted use and may occupy no more than 30% of the principal building’s floor area.
Sources
pending · Township of Parsippany-Troy HillsWould amend Parsippany-Troy Hills’ zoning code to prohibit high-capacity data centers in every zoning district unless their electrical capacity is no more than 10 megawatts, addressing stated concerns about electricity and water use, emissions, noise, infrastructure, environmental resources, and community character.Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Ordinance No. 2026:43 (2026)
What this means
If enacted, this would bar data centers above 10 megawatts across the township, making large projects substantially harder, and projects could not avoid the limit by splitting into smaller facilities (capacity limit and anti-splitting rule). Smaller centers and certain facilities serving only a company’s own operations are exempt, but centers would still have to report energy, water, and emissions (reporting requirement).
People behind it
- Township Council
Introduced Ordinance No. 2026:43 and passed it on first reading.
- Khaled Madin
Township Clerk who issued and administered the notice of introduction and directed required ordinance-review and publication actions.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements5
Data centers with electrical capacity exceeding 10 megawatts are prohibited as permitted uses in all zoning districts; facilities with capacity of 10 megawatts or less are excepted.
The 10-megawatt limit cannot be avoided by dividing one development into multiple facilities or units, including facilities operating independently, collectively, or in parallel across one or more sites in the Township.
The data-center prohibition does not apply to a facility used solely for a commercial or industrial entity’s internal operations, provided it is not a commercial data-processing or colocation facility for an unaffiliated entity.
All data centers must file reports with the Township Planning Department disclosing energy use, water consumption, and carbon emissions.
All data centers must comply with state-level regulatory review and environmental regulations.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions3
Allows data centers with an electrical capacity of no more than 10 megawatts, despite the general prohibition on larger facilities. capacity for no more than ten (10) megawatts
Exempts a facility used for a commercial or industrial entity’s internal operations from the data-center prohibition, provided it is not a commercial data-processing or colocation facility serving an unaffiliated entity. used for internal operations
Continues to list digital data storage warehouses, data centers, and backup system facilities as permitted principal uses in the OVL-8 Overlay District. Digital data storage warehouses/data centers/backup system facilities
Sources
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