The Gilroy City Council on Aug. 17 approved an update to its permit approval process that requires the developers of certain large projects—such as data centers—to conduct more public outreach before building.
However, many residents—including Councilmember Dion Bracco—think the amendment doesn’t go far enough to ensure such projects are reviewed more closely before approval.
The council voted 6-1 to amend its Architectural and Site Review permit approval process to require the applicants of all new non-residential projects 15,000 square feet or larger to host a community meeting about the proposal; mail notices to property owners and residents within a 1,000-foot radius of the project; publish a newspaper notification; and document these outreach efforts.
The zoning code amendment also requires review and approval by the city’s planning commission for commercial and industrial projects that must complete an environmental impact report under existing California development guidelines.
The Aug. 17 council discussion and vote were inspired by a new Amazon Web Services data center under construction on Arroyo Circle. The 438,000-square-foot project was approved by city staff, without planning commission or council review, in 2025.
The city’s development process at the time did not require additional review beyond that of its full-time community development director. Many residents have urged the council to update its development approval process as a result.
In January, Councilmembers Kelly Ramirez and Carol Marques asked city staff to draft recommendations for how to ensure more public review for all larger non-residential projects—not just data centers. In the months that followed, the planning commission held a discussion about the possibilities as well.
“The impetus was concern about the data center, but we did not want to limit this to data centers,” Ramirez said at the Aug. 17 meeting.
More than 20 residents spoke on the issue. Many of them said the updates don’t do enough to demand broader public review, with some suggesting the mailing of notices should expand far beyond a 1,000-foot radius.
Some urged the council to adopt at least a temporary moratorium on new data centers.
“It has been proven time and time again that the people of this city do not want these projects, and yet they still move forward,” said local resident Landon Sepulveda, who has been working to organize community support for a moratorium.
Bracco voted against the new outreach and review requirements because he thinks they don’t go far enough. He suggested the city add more teeth to its policies by updating its overall development guidelines and standards—a much more in-depth discussion that the council agreed to bring back to a future meeting.
“We need to listen to the community and make some changes,” Bracco said. “I don’t support what staff is recommending. What I would support is stopping all this and having a commission of the community, the council and the planning commission to come up with guidelines for development in our city. They haven’t been visited in 30-40 years.”
Marques added that when she requested the recent agenda item in January, she was thinking of a broader policy update. “We want to make sure the public is going to be protected,” Marques said.
At the end of the meeting, council directed city staff to return to the council with “objective development standards governing the size, intensity or operational characteristics of projects.”
