A proposed artificial intelligence data center at the site of a closed municipal airport has sparked a battle that's about more than local zoning. It's about how far a town will go for promised tax revenue — and what happens to residents who organize legally against it.

The Quiet Ordinances

The timeline of Andover Township's relationship with a potential AI data center began last August. That's when discussions first emerged about a developer's interest in building a facility at 248 Stickles Pond Road — the 97-acre former Newton Airport site that's been generating roughly $29,000 a year in property taxes since the airport closed in 2013.

By September 2025, the township committee had passed ordinances allowing data centers in the redevelopment zone along Route 206. The changes, according to meeting documents, raised the height limit for facilities in that zone to 65 feet — approximately six stories tall.

Then came April 2026. Another township committee meeting. Another zoning change. This one specifically tailored the redevelopment zone to benefit data centers, raising the height limit from 45 feet to 65 feet and expanding permitted uses.

The public record shows a pattern of incremental adjustments. Each change, on its own, might have appeared routine. A height limit increase here. A zoning clarification there. Together, they cleared a path for a facility that hadn't yet been formally proposed.

What the record doesn't show is any public notice explaining what was being discussed. No town hall announcement warning residents about the possibility of a data center. No public hearing where residents could ask questions before the ordinances were finalized.

What emerged instead was a rumor.

By the time Andover residents learned about the possibility of an AI data center at the airport site, the groundwork had already been laid. The zoning changes, the committee approvals, the incremental adjustments — they'd all happened. All that remained was for a developer to step forward with a formal application.

Residents pack an Andover Township Land Use Board meeting on April 21 to voice concerns about zoning changes tied to a potential data center

The Packed Meetings

When residents finally learned what was happening, they turned out in force.

On April 21, a Monday, hundreds of Andover residents packed the Land Use Board meeting. They came to voice concerns about zoning changes they believed would open the door for a future data center. The meeting, by all accounts, was crowded. Residents filled the room. The queue to speak stretched out the door.

They raised questions about environmental impact. About water usage. About noise from cooling systems. About the strain on local infrastructure that a data center of this scale would require. They asked about the precedent this would set for Andover Township — whether other industrial facilities would follow.

The committee heard the questions. Then the committee voted to raise the height limit to 65 feet, clearing the way for larger data center construction. The vote passed.

Then came May 7. Another committee meeting. This time, the room was even more crowded. The video from the meeting shows a standing-room-only crowd, residents shoulder-to-shoulder in the municipal building. The tension in the room was visible on camera.

Residents had learned that the township committee planned to vote on final ordinances that would effectively authorize the data center project. They came to speak against it. They came to demand that the process be transparent, that their voices be heard before any deal was finalized.

What happened next would be captured on video.

The Bear Hug

The video from the May 7 meeting shows a confrontation between Andover resident and police officers. According to Mayor Thomas Walsh, the resident began swearing at committee members during public comment period. When officers moved to remove him for being disruptive, Walsh said, the resident became physically resistant.

"He starts swearing at the police officers, swearing at the committee, swearing all the way to the back of the room, which became very disruptive," Walsh said in an interview with News 12. "When he got to the door, he kicked up off the bucks to kick back and resist. He actually kicked into one of the officers...they got him in a bear hug, took him to the floor."

The video, which circulated widely on social media, shows officers wrestling the man to the ground after he resisted removal. The confrontation ended with officers carrying him out of the building while residents shouted from the audience.

Walsh emphasized that the video doesn't show the full encounter — that it begins with the resident becoming disruptive and resisting officers. He didn't address whether police had used force beyond what was necessary to remove him from the meeting.

What the video does show is a town hall filled with residents who came to speak against a project they believed had been advanced without their input. It shows their voices being silenced by force.

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The Ban and the Death Threats

Two days after the confrontation, on Saturday, May 9, Andover Mayor Thomas Walsh and Deputy Mayor Krista Gilchrist announced a dramatic shift in policy. In a joint Facebook video shared that evening, they said the township committee planned to rescind the controversial ordinances tied to the data center project — and to move forward with a complete ban on data centers in Andover Township.

"We're going to put a ban on it — on data centers," Walsh said in the video.

The announcement came with a second claim that's harder to verify: that municipal officials were receiving death threats over the data center.

"Everyone has a right to voice their opinion and come together in a town without there being violence," Andover resident Jade Holzworth said in response to the ban announcement. "I'm really astounded. I really can't believe this is happening. This community came together in a way I never would've imagined to fight this thing," Andover resident Ken Collins told News 12.

Walsh told the publication that the issue had "deeply divided the town" and "led to threats against him and his family." He told News 12 that no amount of tax revenue was "worth tearing a town apart for this."

The announcement raises questions about timing. The death threats — if they existed — weren't mentioned in the immediate aftermath of the May 7 confrontation. They weren't raised by the police who responded to the scene. They weren't referenced in the public meeting on Tuesday, May 9, when the committee voted to move forward with the ban.

What changed in the two days between the confrontation and the ban was the narrative around community dissent.

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The Developer Who Wasn't There

Here's where the timeline raises questions about what was actually happening in Andover Township.

Andover HPC Development, the company tied to the property at 248 Stickles Pond Road, registered to do business in New Jersey in December 2025. That's according to state business records. The company's listed address is the former airport site. The company describes itself as being formed to "develop high-performance computing data centers."

But as of early May 2026, no formal application for a data center project had been filed with Andover Township's land use board — a required step before any construction can proceed. No developer had closed on purchasing the property either, township officials told News 12.

The potential tax revenue for the township is substantial. Walsh told NJ.com that a data center could generate between $4.5 million and $5.2 million annually through a payment in lieu of taxes agreement. That's compared to the roughly $29,000 a year the property currently generates as farmland assessment.

The township attorney, Anand Dash, filed a legal notice on April 24 challenging the zoning ordinances. The notice alleges that the ordinances violate the Municipal Land Use Law and were "tailored to benefit a single developer" — Andover HPC Development.

"The Andover Township Committee deliberately removed any significant zoning obstacles to one of the most debatable types of developments in the country," Dash wrote.

Dash represented Andover residents who had organized opposition to the project. The legal challenge remains active as of May 10.

Resident speaks at Andover Township Land Use Board meeting on April 21

What Happens Next

The Andover Township Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to introduce the new ordinances that would ban data centers. The question is whether the council will also address the legal challenge from Dash.

If the ordinances banning data centers are approved but the legal challenge isn't resolved, the question of the validity of the earlier ordinances that cleared the way for the project remains unresolved — creating uncertainty for residents and developers alike.

The property at 248 Stickles Pond Road remains undeveloped. The 97-acre former airport site sits along Route 206 in rural Sussex County, less than 1,000 feet from the township's municipal building. It's zoned for industrial and commercial use.

What happens there — and who makes that decision — will determine whether Andover Township becomes the next New Jersey community to join the growing list of municipalities fighting against AI data center development, or whether the township proceeds with a project that has divided its residents.

The pattern across New Jersey is becoming clear: AI data centers promise tax revenue and job creation, but the conversation is happening in the community after the agreements are signed. The discussions about environmental impact, water usage, noise, and infrastructure strain come after the zoning approvals are finalized and construction has begun.

In Andover, the conversation happened before any application was filed. It happened before any environmental review. It happened before residents could ask questions at a formal public hearing.

Now it's about death threats and bans. It's about whether a town that was "very, very open" about a potential data center in August will tolerate residents who organize against the project when it actually happens.

The residents who showed up at those committee meetings didn't know they were fighting for their right to be heard. They didn't know that by the time they learned the truth, the path had already been cleared, the ordinances had been passed, the police were ready to remove anyone who got too loud about it.

All they wanted was a chance to speak before their town signed away their future.

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*This story was reported by NJ.com, News 12, and Newton Daily Voice.*