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.
Raritan Township
Strongly Anti-Data Center Policies
Raritan Township prohibits data centers throughout the township, effectively barring standalone facilities. Small server rooms supporting another permitted use are exempt.
current law · Raritan TownshipProhibits data centers throughout Raritan Township, including in every zoning district, by adding them to the Land Development Code’s list of prohibited uses and preventing their classification as warehouses, flex spaces, or research facilities.Raritan Township Ordinance 26-32 (2026)
What this means
The measure prohibits data centers throughout the township, making it effectively impossible to build or operate standalone data centers there. Only small server rooms that support another permitted use are exempt.
People behind it
- Township Committee of the Township of Raritan
Introduced, passed on first reading, and enacted Ordinance No. 26-32 prohibiting data centers.
- Mayor Brad Perry
Participated in the unanimous adoption of the ordinance prohibiting data centers.
- Donna Kukla, RMC
Township Clerk responsible for administering notices, referrals, filings, public access, and certification of the ordinance.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements5
Data centers are prohibited uses%20under%20§296-131(C), so they cannot be built or operated anywhere in the Township.
Data centers cannot be classified or developed as flex spaces, research facilities, warehouses, or other otherwise permitted uses; the ordinance expressly excludes data centers from each of those land-use categories.
An accessory server room is allowed only within a principal building and solely to support the property's principal use, and it may occupy no more than 10% of the building's gross floor area or 2,000 square feet, whichever is less.
Accessory Server Rooms are expressly excluded from the data-center definition, so a data-center use cannot be treated as an accessory server room.
Transformers, electrical substations, and utility infrastructure associated with a data center must be treated as separate uses rather than as part of the data-center use.
Sources
pending · Township of RaritanWould amend Raritan Township’s zoning definitions to prohibit data centers as a land use by defining them as facilities primarily used for the storage, management, and processing of digital or electronic data, including facilities with power density of 2MW or more per acre.Raritan Township Ordinance 26-28 (2026)
What this means
If enacted, this ordinance would effectively ban data centers in Raritan Township by making them a prohibited use. Its broad definition also covers facilities with power density of 2 MW or more per acre, leaving little room to build or expand qualifying facilities.
People behind it
- Township Committee of the Township of Raritan
Introduced and passed the ordinance on first reading.
- Donna Kukla
Raritan Township Clerk responsible for the ordinance notice and public access to copies.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements1
Data centers are prohibited uses under the Township’s zoning code. The ordinance defines a data center broadly to include facilities primarily used to store, manage, or process digital or electronic data, and any use with a power density of 2 megawatts or more per acre is considered a data center.
Sources
Data provided by Regbase · Cookie preferences · Report missing data