Letter: Gilroy is not ready for data center impacts

Adriana Leongardt, a Gilroy resident and former City Planning Commissioner with experience building data centers, has publicly challenged the approval of a 438,000-square-foot, 49-megawatt Amazon data center in Gilroy, California. Leongardt claims that City of Gilroy Community Development Director Sharon Goei approved the project on July 3, 2025, without a City Council vote, Planning Commission review, or public notification, which Leongardt describes as a breach of public trust.

Leongardt detailed concerns about the project's impact, stating that Gilroy's infrastructure is not equipped to handle the 49 MW of power (equivalent to 20,000 homes) or the 7.5 million gallons of water per year the facility would consume, especially given existing drought pressures. She also raised alarms about the environmental impact on the local agricultural microclimate, the safety risks posed by 25 diesel generators and future lithium-ion battery systems, and the limited job creation post-construction. She criticized the use of 56 acres of land for a data center amidst a local housing crisis.

In response, Leongardt and other residents are demanding an immediate moratorium on all new data center approvals in Gilroy. They also call for an independent third-party audit of the project's impacts on water, power, air quality, fire safety, and agriculture, as well as a truthful count of permanent local jobs. Furthermore, they seek a formal investigation into the approval process, disciplinary action against officials who circumvented democratic processes, and new land use policies that prioritize housing and agriculture over corporate infrastructure.