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.
Waterford Township
Strongly Anti-Data Center Policies
Waterford Township’s enacted ordinance prohibits establishing data centers in any zone, including as accessory uses or under light-industrial or commercial classifications.
current law · Waterford TownshipProhibits data centers in all zoning districts and bars treating them as light industrial or commercial uses, whether primary or accessory.Waterford Township Ordinance 2026-12 (2026)
What this means
The ordinance would bar data centers throughout Waterford by adding them to uses restricted in all zones and saying they cannot qualify as light-industrial or commercial uses, even as an accessory use. That amounts to an outright prohibition on establishing data centers in the township.
People behind it
- Township of Waterford
Municipal government issuing and adopting the ordinance.
- Township Committee
Municipal legislative body that introduced and adopted the ordinance.
- Mayor Jones-Freitag
Mayor who signed the ordinance upon adoption.
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- Dawn M. Liedtka, RMC, Township Clerk
Township Clerk who certified the ordinance and recorded its introduction and adoption.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements2
Data centers are prohibited in all zoning districts by adding them to the uses restricted in every zone. The prohibition covers facilities principally or primarily used for dedicated digital computing infrastructure, including server arrays, cloud computing, cryptocurrency mining, artificial-intelligence processing, or similar high-density data-processing uses operated as a primary commercial enterprise and requiring substantial electrical load, industrial-scale cooling, or related infrastructure.
A data center may not be classified as a light-industrial or commercial use, either as a primary use or an accessory use, regardless of other provisions of the Township Code.
Sources
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