The Gilroy City Council will consider adopting a temporary moratorium on new data centers at its Sept. 14 meeting.
The moratorium would allow the city to review and update design and development standards that would apply to data centers and other industrial developments in the future, says a press release from the City of Gilroy.
The council will consider the item as an interim urgency ordinance, which would take effect immediately if approved. Under California Government Code, approved interim urgency ordinances remain in place for 45 days unless renewed by the council. The item can then be renewed for an additional 10 months and 15 days, and again for another 12 months if needed, according to city staff.
If approved, the urgency ordinance would temporarily pause new data center development applications while city officials develop updated standards for future projects.
It would not affect the Amazon data center already approved and under construction on Camino Arroyo in northeast Gilroy.
City staff explained that design and development standards determine how buildings look, how tall they can be, how much energy or water they use and how they fit into the community.
The proposal is the city’s latest step in response to concerns and questions raised by residents about large-scale development and the approval process for the data center.
“Community members have raised important questions and concerns about how Gilroy should evaluate projects of this size and intensity in the future, and we are taking that feedback seriously,” said Mayor Greg Bozzo. “The Council will consider a temporary pause that would give us an opportunity to look carefully at the standards we have in place, determine where they can be strengthened and bring those proposed changes back to the community for a public discussion.”
Gilroy has development standards and guidelines in place that apply to industrial projects. The proposed review would examine whether additional or updated objective standards are appropriate for data centers and other large industrial development, city staff said.
Any proposed standards developed through the review would return to the City Council at a future public meeting.
The proposed moratorium follows other changes recently approved by the City Council after residents raised concerns about public awareness and participation surrounding the data center project.
Those changes, approved by the Council in August, expand notification and community engagement requirements for large commercial and industrial projects and mandate Planning Commission review and approval for any development requiring an Environmental Impact Report.
Data centers have become a hot-button issue in many communities in the immediate region and nationwide. Earlier this month, the Morgan Hill City Council adopted a temporary moratorium on data centers and battery storage facilities while staff develops possibly permanent guidelines.
City of Gilroy staff said members of the public are encouraged to attend the Sept. 14 Council meeting and share their input.
Members of the public may attend and comment in person at the Gilroy City Council Chambers at 7351 Rosanna Street, submit written comments to ci*******@**********oy.org or participate remotely through Zoom.
The agenda and supporting materials are posted on the city’s website at gilroyca.portal.civicclerk.com. More information about the data center and the city’s ongoing response to community questions is available at cityofgilroy.org/datacenter.
Gilroy’s proposed data-center moratorium looks less like leadership and more like a pacifier for an angry public.
The Amazon project is already moving forward. The moratorium doesn’t stop it. It simply puts future projects on ice while the City can say, “Look, we’re doing something.” That’s not accountability. That’s damage control. Residents don’t need a temporary pause and more promises. They need a City Council willing to confront the decisions that got us here and put Gilroy’s interests ahead of developers’ interests. A moratorium is easy. Fixing the system is the hard part.