> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://john-mangini.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Warren banned data centers in every zone before anyone applied to build one - URL: https://john-mangini.ghost.io/data-center-ban/ - Published: 2026-08-17T13:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-19T17:10:43.000Z - Description: Ordinance 26-19 took effect in June. It removes data centers from the permitted uses in the General Industrial district and adds them to the prohibited uses list in all zones. No application was pending. - Author: John Mangini - Tags: Warren 07059, Township, zoning, ordinances, land use The short answer Warren Township adopted Ordinance 26-19 on June 18, 2026, which prohibits data centers in every zoning district in the township. It defines the term, adds it to the prohibited uses section of Chapter 16 at 16-5.25, removes it from the list of permitted uses in the GI General Industrial district, and adds performance standards at 16-23.14\. Township officials described the measure as proactive. No data center application was pending when it passed. Most zoning changes are a reaction. This one was not. Ordinance 26-19 cleared its final vote on June 18\. It does four things. It writes a definition of "data center" into the township code. It adds data centers to the list of prohibited uses at Chapter 16, section 16-5.25, which applies to **all** zoning districts. It strikes data centers from the permitted uses in the GI General Industrial district. And it adds a set of performance standards at 16-23.14. The GI district is the piece that matters. It covers the enumerated blocks and lots along Mount Bethel Road, Powder Horn Drive, Technology Drive and Reinman Road. That corridor is where a data center in Warren would plausibly have gone, because it is the only part of town zoned for that intensity of industrial use. The ordinance closes it. ## Why a town does this with nothing on the table Officials said the ban was proactive, and that no application was pending. That framing is worth taking at face value, because the alternative approach is much worse for a township. Once an application is filed, New Jersey's time of application rule generally freezes the ordinances that apply to it. A town that waits until a developer knocks has lost the ability to legislate on the question. Acting in a quiet period is how a governing body keeps the decision. Warren is not unusual here. Data center siting has become a live municipal question across New Jersey and the country, driven by power demand, water use for cooling, noise from mechanical plant, and the fact that a large data center generates very few permanent jobs relative to its footprint and its draw on local infrastructure. Towns with industrial zoning and highway access have been working through whether they want to be candidates. ## What it means for property in the GI corridor Zoning that removes a permitted use narrows what a parcel can become, and what a parcel can become is part of what it is worth. For owners of GI zoned land in Warren, one potential category of buyer is now off the list. How much that matters depends on whether data center operators were actually looking at Warren, and there is no public evidence in the record that any were. A prohibition on a use nobody was pursuing removes an option that may have been theoretical. The honest answer is that the effect on land value in that corridor is unknown, and anyone who tells you they can quantify it is guessing. The GI district retains its other permitted uses. This ordinance was surgical rather than a downzoning. ## Where this sits in a busy zoning year The data center ban is one item in what has been the most active land use year Warren has had in some time. Also adopted in 2026: **Ordinances 26-06 through 26-11 and 26-14**, the affordable housing package, which creates four new districts designated AH-9, AH-10, AH-11 and AH-12, establishes an affordable housing development fee, and removes hotel area as a permitted use in favor of age restricted inclusionary housing. **Ordinance 26-20** adopted filming regulations, which led to Warren earning Film Ready New Jersey certification on July 31\. **Ordinance 26-21** set fire prevention inspection fees. **Ordinance 26-13** appropriated an additional $100,000 for a Cherry Tree Lane drainage study. Still open: **Ordinance 26-22**, a $1,140,160 appropriation for Dealaman Nature Trail and Pond improvements, gets its public hearing and second reading at the Township Committee meeting on August 20. ## How to read the ordinance yourself The full text is posted at the township's document center, and the 2026 adopted ordinance list carries every measure passed this year. Both are linked in the sources below. The Planning Board meets on roughly the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, with the next meeting on August 26, and the Zoning Board of Adjustment meets on Mondays, though it is skipping September and next meets Monday, October 5. Planning Board legal notices run in the Courier News. Zoning Board notices run in the Echoes-Sentinel. Sources 1. Township of Warren, Ordinance 26-19 full text. [https://www.warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11686](https://www.warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11686?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) 2. Township of Warren, notice of adoption, Ordinance 26-19\. [https://www.warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11796](https://www.warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11796?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) 3. Township of Warren, 2026 adopted ordinances. [https://www.warrennj.org/618/2026-Adopted-Ordinances](https://www.warrennj.org/618/2026-Adopted-Ordinances?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) 4. Patch, Warren Township Moves To Ban Data Centers In All Zoning Districts, May 19, 2026\. [https://patch.com/new-jersey/warren/warren-township-moves-ban-data-centers-all-zoning-districts](https://patch.com/new-jersey/warren/warren-township-moves-ban-data-centers-all-zoning-districts?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) 5. Patch, Data Centers Are Now Banned In Warren Township, June 29, 2026\. [https://patch.com/new-jersey/warren/politics](https://patch.com/new-jersey/warren/politics?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) John Mangini Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier Warren Township resident and full time broker. Warren 07059 is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above. [102 Town Center Drive, Warren, NJ 07059](https://johnmangini.com/?ref=john-mangini.ghost.io) | 732.236.1087 | [john@nexthomepremier.com](mailto:john@nexthomepremier.com)