MANCHESTER, NJ — Most nights, the Manchester Township Council sees a small crowd of 30 or 40 people.
But concerns that an artificial intelligence data center is coming to Manchester led to an overflow crowd at Monday's council meeting. That crowd had a singular message for the council: Just ban data centers.
The township council did not have any discussion items regarding AI data centers on the agenda for Monday's council meeting, Council President Michele Zolezi said.
But messages circulated on social media by the Pinelands Alliance and Save Barnegat Bay urged residents to speak out on the possibility of a data center to be located next to the Renaissance age-restricted community.
Manchester has the highest percentage of Pinelands acreage in Ocean County within its borders, with 73 percent of the town lying within the Pinelands according to state figures.
"Developers are working on plans for a hyperscale data center that could bring noise pollution and unprecedented water and energy demand," the Pinelands Alliance said in a post on Facebook on Aug. 4.
Save Barnegat Bay also urged residents to turn out for the meeting.
They did so in unprecedented numbers, and the opposition spanned all ages and political affiliations.
The overflow crowd led to urgings that the council adjourn the meeting and reschedule with a special meeting at a larger venue.
Zolezi said the council would hold a special meeting at a venue large enough to accommodate those interested at a later date, to be announced.
Public comment was moved to the start of the meeting to allow those in the audience the opportunity to share their concerns, with Zolezi allowing one minute per speaker.
"Just ban it like other towns have done," said a woman from the Renaissance, which is next to the property that appears to be the target of a developer who wants to build a data center.
An ordinance approved in August 2025 by the council designated a property owned by the Stavola Corporation for redevelopment, and included a provision that specifically included data centers as an acceptable use.
The property is off South Hope Chapel Road near the Renaissance age-restricted community.
The ordinance was approved by a 3-0 vote on Aug. 11, 2025, with then-Council President Roxanne Conniff, Council Vice President James Vaccaro and Councilwoman Sandra Gravatt-Drake voting in favor. Zolezi and Councilman Craig Wallis were absent at the meeting.
That vote also came before concerns about the impact of AI data centers exploded as a national issue.
More than 40 towns in New Jersey have banned data centers in recent months as concerns about environmental impacts including power consumption, water usage and potential pollution have sparked protests around the country.
Groups also are urging Gov. Mikie Sherrill to institute a three-year moratorium on data centers in New Jersey, and petitions were being circulated outside the Manchester council meeting on Monday night to garner support.
Sherrill has not sought to halt data centers, but in July signed the Data Center Fair Share bill into law. It requires data centers to pay for their share of the energy usage — data center energy consumption has led to dramatic spikes in electric bills for consumers all over New Jersey and across the country.
Data centers also would be required to pay for their own energy use and associated grid infrastructure.
Residents of all ages urged the current council to repeal the 2025 ordinance and ban data centers in Manchester altogether.
"It's clear from the turnout tonight that we do not want a data center in Manchester," one resident said.
According to comments at the meeting, there was a presentation regarding data centers in Manchester. But Zolezi and Manchester Township Business Administrator Carl Block said there are no active applications for a data center in the township.
Residents who spoke raised concerns about water usage in a town that has faced water restrictions yearly, and about stress on the power grid that has seen multiple outages in 2026 as a result of stresses from high heat.
Impacts on the environment, including air quality issues, also were raised.
"With a nickname like the Garden State, you'd think a ban on data centers would be a no-brainer," said Joe Bizonos, who successfully urged Howell Township to bar data centers there.
A mental health specialist raised concerns about how AI has affected people, causing rising anxiety that will get worse if more and more people lose jobs to AI centers.
"Everything AI is being proposed to do is already being done by human beings," she said.
Others referred to the August 2025 redevelopment ordinance as a loophole, and urged the council to close it.
"The environmental destruction will be a detriment to our town," said Maxxine DeOcampo, a Manchester resident who will be a senior at Ocean County's Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences in September.
"We don't want them poisoning our peace of mind," one resident said. "We don't want them in Ocean County. We don't want them ever."
The council did not set a date or site for a special meeting on Monday but Zolezi said one will be arranged soon.
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