About a week after voters in Trenton approved a ban on large data centers, a company building a project in the city is suing to try to keep construction going.
Prologis, a San-Francisco based developer building a nearly 1 million square foot data center on Kennel and Woodsdale roads, filed a federal lawsuit against the city Thursday. In it, the developer argued the ban is unconstitutional and cannot lawfully be applied to its “vested, permitted, and substantially constructed project.”
In the complaint, Prologis says the city encouraged and authorized its project, adding the company has spent more than $42 million on it. The city issued zoning certificates and building permits months before the Nov. 3 public vote.
Approximately 80% of voters approved a charter amendment prohibiting construction of data centers larger than 25 megawatts within city limits.
After the vote, attorneys representing Trenton taxpayers asked the city to revoke the data center’s zoning certificate to stop the project, saying it’s no longer allowed under the ban.
Prologis argues the law “does not permit the City to change the governing rules after the fact to revoke what it already authorized.”
Prologis is asking the court to declare the ban unconstitutional and prevent it from stopping its data center project.
Trenton officials could not be reached immediately for comment.
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