Tech vs. Environment: Paramus Proposes Historic Ordinance to Ban Data Centers

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

The Borough of Paramus, New Jersey, is taking a aggressive stand against the expansion of Big Tech. The Paramus Environmental Commission, alongside Mayor Christopher DiPiazza and the Borough Council, is officially reviewing a draft ordinance that would completely ban new commercial data centers from opening within the municipality.

Local leaders argue that these facilities pose an immediate and severe threat to the town’s infrastructure, residential resources, and historic heritage.

Why Paramus is Saying “No” to Data Centers

While data centers power the modern digital economy, their physical footprint is incredibly demanding. According to the draft ordinance, the unique land-use requirements of these facilities create major obstacles for long-term community planning.

The Borough outlined three critical hazards driving the proposed ban:

• Massive Water Consumption: Between direct liquid cooling systems and the water required to generate the energy to run them, large-scale data centers use an extreme volume of water. Officials fear this will deplete critical subterranean aquifers and threaten the drinking water supply for local homes and businesses.

• Extreme Energy Demands: Preliminary state studies show that some data centers require up to 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity—roughly the total output of a small modular nuclear reactor. This massive strain comes at a time when New Jersey consumer energy costs have already spiked over 20% in the last year alone.

• Environmental Degradation: Constructing these large facilities requires clear-cutting local trees, which leads to soil erosion, severe dust creation, and property value deterioration for surrounding neighborhoods.

Defining the Target

To ensure the law is foolproof, the Borough has established clear legal parameters for what constitutes a restricted facility.

The Borough’s Definition: Under the draft text, a data center is classified as any facility primarily used for storing, managing, and processing electronic data that operates with a power density of 2 to 4 MW or more per acre.

How to Make Your Voice Heard

The future of this ordinance relies heavily on community input. The Paramus Environmental Commission has scheduled a virtual forum to review the draft, collect public feedback, and vote on a resolution of support.

• Date: Wednesday, July 15

• Time: 7:00 PM

• Platform: Zoom (Public comment session included)

As towns across New Jersey grapple with skyrocketing utility costs and urbanization, Paramus’s proactive pushback could set a massive precedent for how local governments regulate the infrastructure of the AI and digital age.

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