Data centers

The data-center ban and the lawsuit against it

Ordinance 26-1779, adopted June 18, 2026, bans data centers and detention centers throughout the township. E. Kahn Development sued on July 31, 2026 to void it. No answer, motion or hearing date has been reported.

Checked against the primary record on . Every figure on this page is sourced at the foot of the article.

In litigation Last moved

The Township Committee adopted Ordinance 26-1779 4-0 on June 18, 2026; the fifth seat was vacant that night. The Planning Board had found it consistent with the Master Plan on June 8. E. Kahn Development’s five-count complaint (SOM-L-001072-26) seeks a declaration that the ordinance is invalid and an injunction against enforcing it.

The widely reported “$300 million” figure is false: the complaint names no dollar amount. As of September 17 the township had not been served, and its attorney gave no legal update in public on October 1 or 15.

The ordinance and the lawsuit

Timeline

Each dated event on this issue, oldest first, linked to the full sourced entry.

  1. Resolved Planning Board finds the data-center ordinance consistent with the Master PlanOn the statutory referral before adoption, the Planning Board voted 9-0 to recommend that the Township Committee adopt Ordinance #26-1779 and found the ordinance consistent with the Master Plan. That finding is the one E. Kahn's later complaint, as reported, says went undocumented — the complaint alleges the June 8 recommendation lacked any documented discussion of Master Plan consistency.
  2. Resolved Data centers and detention centers banned townwideThe Township Committee adopted Ordinance #26-1779, prohibiting data centers and detention centers throughout Montgomery Township, on a 4-0 roll call after a public hearing at which E. Kahn's lawyer asked it to reject or carry the ordinance and six speakers — four of them Montgomery residents — spoke in support.
  3. In court E. Kahn sues to void the data-center ordinanceE. Kahn Development Corp. filed a five-count complaint in lieu of prerogative writs in Somerset County Superior Court (SOM-L-001072-26), asking the court to declare Ordinance 26-1779 invalid and to enjoin its enforcement. The complaint names no dollar amount. The widely repeated report that it demanded $300 million was wrong, and the township said so twice on the record.

Explainers

  • The Data Center Ordinance and the Lawsuit Against It

    Ordinance 26-1779 bans data centers and detention centers throughout Montgomery Township. E. Kahn Development sued on July 31, 2026 to void it. What the ordinance says, what the five-count complaint actually argues, what the Planning Board minutes record — and why the widely reported $300 million figure is false.

Documents

The township's own records on this issue. Each links to the official copy.

Meetings

  • Township Committee — June 18, 2026

    The Committee adopted Ordinance #26-1779, which prohibits data centers and detention centers everywhere in Montgomery Township, by a 4-0 roll call after a public hearing at which a lawyer and a partner for E. Kahn Development asked them to table it. The same meeting opened with Deputy Mayor Vince Barragan's resignation and closed, after an executive session on the affordable housing litigation, with an added resolution approving a Fourth Round settlement agreement with Fair Share Housing Center.

  • Planning Board — June 8, 2026

    A 40-minute meeting whose single consequential act was a 9-0 recommendation that the Township Committee adopt Ordinance #26-1779, the townwide ban on data centers and detention centers. The minutes record that "the Board found the ordinance to be consistent with the Master Plan" — the finding that reporting on E. Kahn Development's lawsuit says was never documented. The Board then went into closed session on the developer's separate suit against it.

Sources for this overview

  1. Ordinance No. 26-1779 (full text)
  2. E. Kahn Development Corp. v. Township of Montgomery, complaint (SOM-L-001072-26)
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