Developer challenges Gloucester County data center ban on free-speech grounds

Princeton-based Hexa Builders has initiated a federal lawsuit against Monroe Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey, challenging a recently adopted blanket ban on data centers. The developer is seeking to overturn the prohibition on First Amendment free-speech grounds, arguing that data centers are crucial infrastructure for electronic communications and restricting them burdens the speech rights of all citizens. The lawsuit, filed on June 5 and later moved to U.S. District Court in Camden, also demands $300 million in damages from the township.

The dispute stems from Hexa's plan to develop two warehouses, with one eventually converting into a data center, at 3043 Black Horse Pike. The Monroe Planning Board initially approved Hexa's project following a January 8 meeting, despite public opposition. However, Monroe Township Council members, citing continued resident concerns, subsequently directed the planning board to develop stricter standards and ultimately adopted a township-wide ban on data centers on April 22, applying it to previously approved projects. Mayor Gregory Wolfe publicly stated the township's intent to "deny any applications for that use" and "block any data centers from coming.

Following the ban's enactment, the Planning Board rejected Hexa's application in May, deeming it incomplete. Hexa's lawsuit accuses township officials of violating the First and 14th Amendments, as well as several state laws. Constitutional law scholar Ronald Chen of Rutgers Law School expressed skepticism about the First Amendment claim's success, noting that data centers transmit rather than produce speech, but acknowledged that a favorable ruling could have profound implications for local governments' ability to regulate communication-related infrastructure.