Political Circus Coming to the Community Near You

Just when Holmdel residents are finally digging into the data-center application, analyzing the documents and gearing up for the real fight before the Planning Board, along comes a political petition pretending to join the battle — by demanding that the Township do something it has already done.

The petition, started by the Holmdel Republican Party, is titled "Protect Holmdel: Ban Data Centers in Our Township." It warns about electricity, water, noise, land use and public-safety impacts — legitimate concerns that deserve serious scrutiny.

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But then comes the sleight of hand.

The petition specifically praises Mayor Rocco Impreveduto, Deputy Mayor Brian Foster, Committeeman Gary Vanderham and the Holmdel Republican County Committee for their efforts to protect Holmdel. Then it asks residents to sign a petition calling upon the local government to "Prohibit data centers as a permitted or conditional use throughout Holmdel."

There's one rather important problem: Holmdel's governing body already did that.

Ordinance 2026-16, introduced July 21, expressly states that "Data center(s) are a prohibited use." The ordinance was scheduled for its final public hearing on August 11, and reporting following that meeting states that the Township Committee approved the ban.

So what exactly are residents being petitioned to accomplish?

The real controversy isn't whether Holmdel should ban future data centers. That decision has already been made. The controversy is the 108,000-square-foot, 40-megawatt data center application already pending before the Planning Board, which was filed July 24 — after the ban was introduced but before final adoption.

That is the application residents should be examining.

Calling on elected officials to enact a ban they already enacted, while congratulating those same officials for enacting it, isn't much of a petition.

It looks a lot more like the usual political sleight of hand.

Prakash Santhana

Former Holmdel Deputy Mayor