At its meeting on August 12, the Bayonne City Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance that prohibits data centers in all parts of Bayonne.  Mayor Sharon Nadrowski signed the ordinance into law the next day. "Today I signed O-26-74 into law, prohibiting data centers as a permitted use in all zones within the City of Bayonne," said Mayor Nadrowski. She added, "This brings an end to a period marked by uncertainty and confusion about this city's stance on this divisive matter. I want to thank the City Council for their partnership and consideration as we collectively answered the call to do what is in the best interest of Bayonne residents."

City Council President Melissa Godesky-Rodriguez said, "The adoption of this ordinance is an important step for both our residents and the future of Bayonne. We heard clearly from our community that the potential impact of data centers was a real concern, and we took that seriously.”  Council President Godesky-Rodriguez continued, "As a Council, we have a responsibility to look beyond today and make decisions that protect our neighborhoods, our resources, and the long-term interests of our city. I am proud that we were able to follow through on this commitment and put protections in place that reflect what our residents asked of us and what we believe is right for Bayonne’s future."

The ordinance declares that “the City Council has determined that in the interest of health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the City of Bayonne, it is appropriate at this time to amend the City Code to include data centers as a non-permitted use within the geographic boundaries of the City of Bayonne.” 

The language of the ordinance cites several reasons behind the ban on their development in Bayonne.  The wording includes concerns about data centers’ causing “substantial electrical demand, extensive cooling systems, redundant utility infrastructure, emergency power generation, battery energy storage systems, telecommunications infrastructure and mechanical equipment that distinguish them from ordinary office, commercial, manufacturing, warehouse, research, or institutional uses.”  The new ordinance also states that data centers “offer comparatively limited permanent employment relative to their land consumption and infrastructure demands.”  The text of the ordinance makes the case that data centers pose “development challenges related to electricity consumption, noise, air quality, water use, and community character.”  

The ordinance includes seven paragraphs that deal with the definition of “data center.”  The core of the definition provided is that “data center shall mean any building, structure, facility, campus, or portion thereof, the principal use of which is the housing, operation, storage, management, processing, transmission, routing, hosting, distribution, maintenance, security, or exchange of digital or electronic data through computer servers, server racks, networking equipment, telecommunications equipment, electronic data storage systems, cloud computing infrastructure, artificial intelligence infrastructure, or other high-density digital information technology infrastructure, regardless of the terminology, trade name, ownership structure, or business model used to describe the facility.” The seventh paragraph concludes by saying “this definition shall be liberally construed to include facilities whose principal purpose is the operation of large-scale digital infrastructure, regardless of the name or description used by the owner, operator, tenant, or applicant.” 

The language of the ordinance makes clear that it will apply “prospectively and shall not affect any development approval, permit, or authorization that has become final and vested under applicable law prior to the effective date of this Ordinance.”  The ordinance explains that “nothing contained herein shall be construed to create, recognize, or expand any vested right, development right, or nonconforming use where none otherwise exists under Municipal Land Use Law or other applicable law.”  The ordinance states that “except as otherwise required by applicable law,” that “no application for development, zoning permit, construction permit, certificate of occupancy, variance, conditional use approval, or other land use approval submitted after the effective date of this ordinance shall authorize the establishment, construction, expansion, or operation of a Data Center.”