Residents urge Oldmans Township to review land‑use rules for data centers as Redevelopment Plan introduced

Residents and committee members discussed data centers and broader land‑use considerations during public comment after Oldmans Township Committee’s April 8 meeting.

Sandy Collom urged the Committee to begin reviewing and possibly updating the Municipal Land Use Ordinance and Master Plan to address data center applications before any are submitted, citing actions by neighboring municipalities and concerns raised by planning and environmental organizations. Kevin Norton asked for clarification on what a data center is; committee discussion noted they are large facilities for data processing and storage with potential high energy and water use, heat and noise impacts, and large building footprints.

Committee members and other commenters referenced the limits of municipal control and acknowledged ongoing regional concerns. The Committee introduced Ordinance 2026‑08 (I‑295 Interchange 7 Redevelopment Plan) and clarified during introduction that permitted uses include warehousing, offices and laboratories but do not include data centers. The ordinance was introduced by motion and scheduled for public hearing on May 13, 2026; it was also referred to the Planning Board for review.

What this means: Residents seeking stricter local rules on data centers should plan to participate in the May 13 public hearing on the redevelopment plan and follow Planning Board review; the Committee did not adopt ordinance changes at this meeting but signaled the plan and referral that will trigger review.