Data centers in Sussex County, New Jersey: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Sussex County's data center fight was in Andover Township, a town of about 6,000. The site is a roughly 97-acre property at 248 Stickles Pond Road off Route 206: the former Newton Airport, closed in 2013 and later a junkyard. It had been approved for a 660,000-square-foot warehouse in 2024. The Township Committee then amended its Route 206 redevelopment plan in September 2025 to permit data centers, and in April 2026 raised the height limit for them to 65 feet in front of hundreds of residents. Mayor Thomas Walsh Jr. said a data center could pay $4.5 million to $5.2 million a year in lieu of taxes, nearly a third of the township's $11.4 million budget. The land currently pays about $29,000. No site plan was ever filed, but a company called Andover HPC Development registered in December 2025 at the property's address.

Opposition built through the spring, led by groups including the Sussex Visibility Brigade. On May 7, 2026, the committee voted 4-1 to introduce more data center standards. The meeting ended with police wrestling a Butler resident to the floor after he spoke against the project. Walsh said his family had received death threats. Five days later, the committee reversed itself and unanimously introduced Ordinance 2026-13, which bans data centers throughout the township and repeals the two earlier ordinances. "No project, no money is worth tearing it down at its seams," Walsh said. The Visibility Brigade welcomed the ban but noted "a notable absence of any acknowledgment of wrongdoing."

On July 10 the Pennsylvania developer National Land Developers sued in Superior Court. It calls the ban arbitrary, says it was adopted with no change to the master plan and in violation of the state's land use law, and asks the court to strike it down. The committee said it "intends to vigorously defend the allegations and has no interest in settling," and that the ban remains in force. The county Democratic and Republican chairs traded accusations over who had pushed for data centers.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.