Jersey City Council Gives Initial Approval to Restrict New Data Centers

Jersey City’s City Council voted 9-0 on July 15, 2026, to give first-reading approval to an ordinance that would remove cyber hotels and data centers from the list of principal permitted uses in the city’s Industrial District.

Ordinance 26-057 is not a final ban. The proposed Land Development Ordinance amendment still requires a second reading and final council vote, scheduled for August 19, 2026. Until final passage and the legally required effective date, the proposed zoning change has not taken effect.

What the ordinance would change

If adopted, Ordinance 26-057 would remove cyber hotels and data centers as principal permitted uses in Jersey City’s Industrial District. The ordinance also removes the associated Industrial District parking standard and adds a municipal-code definition stating that a data center or cyber hotel is not warehousing.

The practical effect would be prospective. New data-center or cyber-hotel proposals in the Industrial District could no longer rely on that use as a principal permitted use if the council gives the ordinance final approval.

Existing downtown facilities would remain

The proposal would not require Jersey City’s existing data centers to close or move. City planning materials identify approximately five existing facilities, all located downtown inside office buildings shared with other commercial tenants.

According to the city, those facilities did not receive Planning Board approval and were permitted administratively as tenant fit-outs. The proposed restriction is aimed at future principal-use development in the Industrial District, not the removal of those existing downtown facilities.

Planning Board review preceded the council vote

The Jersey City Planning Board held a public hearing on June 30, 2026, on the proposed amendment. The ordinance says the board found the change consistent with the Jersey City Master Plan adopted in 2022 and recommended that the Municipal Council adopt it.

The city’s planning materials tie the proposal to master-plan recommendations concerning cyber hotels, data centers, shared infrastructure and colocation. The ordinance packet contains inconsistent date and vote-count notations in its Planning Board resolution, so this article does not assign a vote total to the board’s recommendation.

Why city officials support the change

City officials have framed the proposal as a land-use and infrastructure decision. The city’s announcement cited concerns about electricity and water demand, utility costs, the amount of industrial land used by data centers and questions about how many permanent jobs the facilities create.

Those are stated policy concerns and rationales for the ordinance, not settled findings about every data center operating in Jersey City. The planning materials also discuss coordinating high-technology infrastructure and encouraging shared facilities or colocation.

For residents, property owners, developers, utilities and businesses, the debate is about how Jersey City uses limited industrial land and evaluates infrastructure demands and employment claims. Existing downtown operations are outside the proposed restriction.

What happens next

The City Council is scheduled to consider final passage on August 19, 2026. As of August 1, 2026, the reviewed records showed first-reading approval but no final passage.

Anyone considering a data-center or cyber-hotel proposal in Jersey City’s Industrial District should watch the August vote and any later zoning or permitting guidance. A final ordinance could change the approval path for new principal-use proposals, but the reviewed records do not establish an implementation date or additional enforcement details.

Sources

• Jersey City Ordinance 26-057
• City of Jersey City: Jersey City Introduces Law To Ban Data Centers
• Hudson County View: Following Planning Board, Jersey City Council Gives Initial OK To Ban Data Centers