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Vernon council adopts ordinance to ban large-scale data centers
Summary
The Vernon Township Council unanimously adopted ordinance 2611 to define and prohibit large-scale data centers, citing concerns about energy, water, noise and local character after residents urged a ban during public comment.
Vernon Township's governing body on a unanimous roll-call vote adopted ordinance 2611 Wednesday, adding a definition of and an explicit prohibition on large-scale data centers to the township code.
The ordinance, placed into the section of the code that lists uses prohibited in all districts, defines a data center as a facility primarily engaged in storage, management, processing or hosting of digital data and high-density computing — including cloud services, cryptocurrency mining and AI processing — and explicitly covers associated cooling systems, backup generators, substations and related utility infrastructure. The council recorded five yes votes for adoption.
Residents who spoke during the meeting urged the council to adopt the ban. "The data centers can bring several concerns for a local community," said Christa Garry, a Vernon resident, listing high energy consumption, heavy water use for cooling, limited permanent jobs after construction and noise from cooling fans and generators.
Carol Bernham, another resident, urged the council to protect the township's rural character and open space, saying large facilities "consume extraordinary amounts of electricity, can require significant water for cooling, generate persistent mechanical noise, and rely on backup power systems that can burden surrounding communities."
A council member who worked on the text told the meeting the ordinance includes carveouts to avoid restricting customary IT equipment at permitted uses (schools, hospitals, government buildings and ordinary businesses) and does not target telecommunications facilities such as cell sites, fiber-optic networks or central-office switching stations that provide broadband access.
Council members said the township's Highlands Act coverage and zoning also limit where large industrial facilities could locate, and the ordinance was intended to make local policy explicit. The ordinance takes effect according to the township's published adoption rules and will be posted on the municipal website, officials said.
Next steps: the township clerk will publish the adopted ordinance and update zoning enforcement staff; residents who asked for the full ordinance text were told it is available on the township website under agendas.
