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Sparta bans large-scale data centers across zones; council adopts ordinance 26-11
Summary
The Township Council adopted Ordinance 26-11 to define and prohibit large-scale data centers throughout Sparta, prompting public input urging clearer definitions and size thresholds to avoid unintended impacts on small IT operations and schools.
The Sparta Township Council on June 23 passed Ordinance 26-11, amending the comprehensive land management code to define and prohibit data centers within all township zones.
At the public hearing, several residents said they supported the ordinance—s aim to prevent the arrival of large, resource-intensive facilities but urged clearer drafting to avoid capturing legitimate local IT operations, school systems or small startups. Nate Rogoff told the council he agreed with the intent —which is no large-scale data centers in Sparta. It goes against everything we are as a town.— He said the draft contains conflicting language where the term —data center— both includes and excludes telecommunications in different paragraphs and urged the council to consider size thresholds based on square footage or power consumption.
Council members said they weighed options including thresholds for water and electricity use but ultimately drafted a definition and exemptions intended to avoid sweeping in ordinary telecommunications or small institutional servers while blocking the types of high-impact facilities that have sparked controversy in other communities. One councilmember noted the technology and economics are evolving and that later planning-board or conditional-use reviews could address exceptions for novel, low-impact facilities.
The ordinance was adopted on a roll-call vote recorded in the meeting minutes as unanimous yes votes. The council—s action will require staff to update zoning enforcement procedures and allow the planning board to consider any future site-specific exceptions under the revised code.
What this means: The ordinance will bar developers proposing the kind of large data farms and crypto or AI-mining centers many residents fear; small institutional or telecom uses were intended to be carved out, but public commenters urged the council to clarify definitions and add objective thresholds.
Provenance: the data-center ordinance hearing began when the clerk read the title (Ordinance 26-11) and ran through public comment; the council adopted the ordinance later in the meeting.
