Title
Dept/ Agency: Offices of Municipal Council/City Clerk
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Expressing Support
Purpose: Resolution of Support for a temporary moratorium of twelve (12) months on the development of Data Centers throughout the city.
Sponsor: Council Member, Anibal Ramos, Jr.
Additional Information:
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WHEREAS, the City of Newark (“the City”) seeks to promote the health, safety and general welfare of those who live, work, and do business within the City, and to guide the orderly development of land in a manner consistent with the City's Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, the City has experienced a marked increase in inquiries and proposals for the development of large-scale Data Centers, a use currently permitted in the City's Industrial, Airport, and Port Area Districts pursuant to Table 4-3 (41:4-3) of Title 41 of the Revised General Ordinances; and
WHEREAS, Data Centers of the scale increasingly proposed regionally and nationally can require substantial and sustained electric power loads, placing significant new demand on the regional electric grid and related infrastructure, with attendant impacts on electricity costs, reliability, and emissions; and
WHEREAS, Data Centers of this scale may also require substantial water for cooling, generate increased heavy-vehicle and backup-generator noise, and otherwise affect surrounding land uses in ways that warrant careful zoning and land use analysis before further such development proceeds; and
WHEREAS, the current definition of “DATA CENTER” set forth in 41:2-2 of Title 41 does not distinguish large, power-intensive data center facilities from smaller collocated server rooms, nor does it establish an objective threshold for identifying uses that warrant heightened land use review; and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Council has observed that large Data Centers approved for construction around the country are frequently in excess of one hun...
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