Monroe is being sued
over its data center ban

Monroe Township in Gloucester County is being sued for $300 million by Hexa Builders, a Princeton-based developer that wants to build a data center and warehouse of about one million square feet. The 20 count complaint was filed in June and is now pending in federal court. It argues the township violated New Jersey's Municipal Land Use Law and its own application procedures when local officials reversed a 2025 ordinance that had allowed data centers.

Monroe is one of at least three New Jersey towns sued in recent weeks by data center developers challenging local bans. Montgomery, in Somerset County, was sued in July by E. Khan Development over an ordinance barring both data centers and detention centers. That company owns a 257 acre campus in Skillman, says its site plan application was declared complete on June 9, days before the ban was adopted, and is asking a judge to declare the ordinance invalid along with $300 million in damages. Andover Township in Sussex County faces a similar suit filed July 10 by National Land Developers over a roughly 100 acre former airport site, land the company says has been vacant for more than a decade.

Nearly three dozen New Jersey municipalities have now passed bans or restrictions on data centers. Two of them are in our area: Logan Township in Gloucester County and Millville in Cumberland County. Elsewhere on the list are Asbury Park, Neptune and Red Bank. Residents who pushed for the ordinances have raised noise, increased water use and rising electricity demand. Officials with Monroe, Montgomery and Andover did not respond to the outlet's requests for comment.

The court filings sit alongside a wider argument over whether the state should set the terms instead of each town. Governor Mikie Sherrill said in May that she backs legislation to regulate data centers. Neighboring states have already moved: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order setting standards on data center construction, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a one year moratorium on large data centers.

The suits described here are pending. Nothing in them has been decided by a court. Reported by New Jersey Monitor. This is a summary in our own words; the full report is theirs.