Residents, Sierra Club and council supporters press for master-plan safeguards and a data‑center ban

Several residents and environmental advocates used the public‑comment period to press the council to prioritize community input and environmental protections in the city's master plan and to regulate or ban data‑center development. Patricia Hilliard, chair of the Hudson County group of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said big tech "cannot take all the water in a community" or run up utility costs, and presented a draft ordinance for the council to consider.

Other residents, including Jenna Redick and Diane Stein, supported a proposed data‑center ban and urged participatory planning: Stein said the consultant's job is to operationalize residents' priorities and recommended plain‑language documents, multilingual access, and enforcement and evaluation mechanisms. No final vote on a ban occurred at the meeting; the council introduced planning‑related ordinances and set public hearings for Aug. 12.