"Somerset's site plan application, from a legal standpoint, will have the benefit of zoning prior to consideration of this ordinance based upon the law." Township attorney Michael Collins said this at the Aug. 11 Township Committee meeting. That same night, the committee voted unanimously to ban data centers in Holmdel.
So the ban passed, and the township's own attorney told the room it probably would not reach the one data center actually proposed. That was nearly two months ago. Since then the debate has been loud, but the Planning Board has held no hearing on the project. If you walk the Wednesday market at Bell Works or take the kids to events there, where things stand is mostly a matter of dates and documents.
A Permitted Use Since the Redevelopment Plan
The project is called the Data Center at Bell Works. Somerset, the owner of the former Bell Labs campus, wants to put a 108,000-square-foot, 40-megawatt facility inside an existing two-story building at 101 Crawfords Corner Road. The building sits off the ring road, behind the main Bell Works structure.
The data center use itself goes back more than a decade. In his Aug. 18 open letter, Somerset founder and CEO Ralph Zucker wrote that Holmdel adopted the Bell Works Redevelopment Plan in 2012. That plan approved a data center as one of the permitted uses on the 472-acre site, alongside residential and sports uses. The township signed a redevelopment agreement with Somerset in 2013, tied to the Alcatel-Lucent Redevelopment Plan. Collins said that plan allows data centers on land outside the building's ring road.
Zucker presents the data center as part of the campus's long-term finances. He wrote that the property has generated more than $60 million in PILOT payments to the township since Somerset bought it, and that the data center would add "millions of dollars in recurring tax revenue." Neither the letter nor the project FAQ gives a figure for that future revenue.
The Three Days That May Decide Which Rules Apply
The order of events explains why the ban may not reach this application. Here is the record from midsummer to now:
- July 21: The data-center ban is introduced at the Township Committee.
- July 24: Somerset files with the Planning Board for preliminary and final site plan approval.
- Aug. 11: After a public hearing, the committee adopts the ban unanimously.
- Aug. 18: Zucker's open letter is published on TAPinto Holmdel.
- Aug. 26: SHIELD holds a community meeting on environmental impacts and how the public can take part in the Planning Board process.
- Sept. 1: The Planning Board meets. The only public hearing is a cemetery application, carried to Oct. 20.
- Sept. 12: SHIELD launches a petition asking Zucker to withdraw the application.
- Sept. 15: The Planning Board agenda lists no public hearing.
- Oct. 6: This meeting has been cancelled "due to a lack of scheduled agenda items."
The filing came three days after the ban was introduced and 18 days before it was adopted. Under New Jersey's time-of-application law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.5, the development rules in effect when an application is submitted govern its review. Ordinances passed afterward generally do not apply. The statute exempts provisions "relating to health and public safety." The law dates to 2010, Chapter 9. A New Jersey law firm's bulletin says it took effect May 5, 2011.
Whether an application qualifies does not depend on a formal municipal stamp. In Dunbar Homes, the New Jersey Supreme Court said the protection applies once a filing includes the application form and every item the local ordinance and checklist require. In Holmdel, the Planning Board deemed Somerset's filing administratively complete before the ban was adopted. That is the basis for the company's objection to the ban. No public record so far shows anyone arguing that the health-and-safety exception applies here. Any such argument would be for the board and its attorneys to take up, and nothing here is legal advice.
What the Planning Board Is Actually Being Asked
Mayor Rocco Impreveduto has described the Planning Board as a quasi-judicial body that must judge the application on its merits. He and Collins have both said they cannot comment on the substance while the application is pending. So the board will not be voting on whether Holmdel wants a data center. It will rule on three specific requests:
- Minor subdivision to split roughly 12 acres off the larger campus. Collins said the data center would be limited to roughly the footprint of the building behind the main structure.
- Preliminary and final major site plan approval, covering a generator yard of about 26,340 square feet, two loading docks, driveways, landscaping, lighting, utility upgrades and stormwater management.
- A parking variance. The plan shows 34 spaces, and the township ordinance requires 72.
The architectural plans posted with Somerset's FAQ are dated June 10, 2026, about six weeks before the filing. They show four data halls with 26 megawatts of critical load inside the 40-megawatt utility load. Even if the time-of-application rule keeps the ban from reaching this filing, a question the township attorney's remarks leave open, the board still has to decide each of these requests, which gives the hearing real weight.
What's on Paper and What Isn't
Most of the public argument has run through two documents. One is Somerset's FAQ, headed "Media FAQ · August 2026." The other is SHIELD's petition. SHIELD stands for Stop Holmdel Industrial Energy Load Data-center, and the petition is addressed directly to Zucker. Neither document is sworn testimony. The table below sets each side's claims next to what the published plans actually show.
| Topic | Somerset's position | SHIELD's concern | Missing from published materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noise | Below New Jersey daytime and nighttime limits | Low-frequency humming, 24/7 | Any decibel figure |
| Backup power | Not addressed in detail | Large on-site diesel storage | Generator count, type or fuel; the plan labels only a "generator yard" |
| Water | Closed-loop cooling, initial fill only | Possible contamination of a drinking-water source | Independent technical review |
| Electricity | JCP&L can serve it within existing capacity, with no new transmission buildout | Higher electric rates | Utility documentation in the public file |
| Timeline | Full Planning Board review | Withdrawal requested | Construction or completion schedule |
Zucker's letter puts the facility at "less than one-tenth the size" of the 300- to 500-plus-megawatt hyperscale campuses that dominate national coverage. It also says the site is out of view from surrounding neighborhoods and roadways and will add no traffic to local roads. According to Better Holmdel, the SHIELD petition passed 450 signatures within days of launching. That figure comes from the organizers and has not been independently verified. So far, no public response from Somerset to the petition has been reported.
The empty column in the table is the useful one. Generator details, noise measurements and testing hours are the kind of material that usually comes out in site-plan testimony. Somerset's FAQ says it will be updated as the application moves forward.
Where Things Stand This Month
The next Planning Board meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. The township's cancellation notice does not say the data center will be heard that night. The only hearing already set for Oct. 20 is the carried cemetery application. Planning Board agendas are posted on the township's Agenda Center, and that is where a hearing date would appear first.
Meanwhile, the campus calendar is full. The Catsbury Park Cat Convention fills Bell Works on Oct. 10 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with more than 50 vendors and adoptable cats. The Monmouth Moms Fall Festival + Resource Fair runs Oct. 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The annual Fresh Pawrade dog-costume contest is Oct. 21 from 3 to 4 p.m., during the Wednesday market. Across town, the township's Harvest Fest takes over Bayonet Farm at 41 Middletown Road on Oct. 10 from noon to 7 p.m. It has live music, food vendors and rides, a 6:30 p.m. Peanuts special and 7 p.m. fireworks. Alex's Paw Park will be closed during the event.
Bell Works' annual dog parade falls on Oct. 21, the day after the next Planning Board meeting. By then, the Oct. 20 agenda will show whether the data center hearing has been scheduled.
Questions about how a pending land-use application could affect a home near Crawfords Corner Road, or how to describe it accurately in a listing, are worth working through with someone who reads the township record closely. Craig Harris follows these Planning Board filings and is glad to talk them through with you, without pressure. Let's Connect.