JERSEYVILLE – Jerseyville city officials recently passed new regulations on shipping containers which they say are completely unrelated to a data center being proposed in Jersey County.
Jerseyville City Council members approved an ordinance at their Oct. 27, 2026 meeting to amend a section of the City Code regarding zoning regulations for accessory buildings, adding language pertaining to shipping containers.
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Mayor Kevin Stork said a concerned community member reached out to ask if these City Code changes are related in any way to a proposed Bitcoin data center in Jersey County. The mayor said the updated language is not related to the data center proposal and has actually been in the works for about two years.
“We were starting to get shipping containers in residential areas and then downtown. We realized we didn’t have language to curtail that, shape that or guide that in any way,” Stork said.
“The council did receive communication prior to the meeting from a concerned county resident about our ordinance, more or less inquiring if this had anything to do with the potential Bitcoin mining operation in the county, if this has something to do with that, and it does not. This is completely to do with, in the city, making sure we don’t have them [shipping containers] in our downtown corridor.”
The ordinance prevents shipping containers from being used as an “accessory building” except in certain zoning districts or under certain circumstances. The ordinance defines an accessory building as one that is subordinate to and serves a principal building, such as a garage, shed, private greenhouse and more.
Shipping containers cannot be used as accessory buildings in any residential zoning district or the city’s Main Street Commercial District under the updated ordinance. Such containers can only be used as accessory buildings in manufacturing districts, or in commercial districts with a Special Use permit only.
The ordinance also allows shipping containers to be temporarily used in any zoning district to support ongoing construction projects with a valid building permit. However, this temporary use is only allowed during the duration of the construction project or the duration of the building permit, whichever is shorter.
With no further discussion, the ordinance was approved unanimously with all council members present.
