Patterson City Council to Consider Extending Data Center Moratorium
The Patterson City Council will consider extending its initial 45-day moratorium on data centers for an additional 10.5 months, until July 2027. This extension is proposed to allow the city to study the potential impacts of data centers on water, energy infrastructure, air quality, noise, and other issues. The city currently lacks sufficient regulations to mitigate these impacts, especially given its location in a critically overdrafted groundwater basin.
The Patterson City Council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on extending its current 45-day moratorium on data center development by an additional 10.5 months, pushing the pause until July 15, 2027. This move would require a four-fifths vote from the council members. The initial moratorium was enacted on July 16 in response to the rapid proliferation of large data center projects across California and other states, fueled by the demands of cloud computing, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence.
A city staff report highlights the significant strain data centers can place on public utilities, particularly in terms of water for cooling and substantial energy consumption. Patterson is located in a critically overdrafted groundwater basin and participates in a regional pumping reduction program, raising concerns that unregulated data centers could deplete millions of gallons of water daily. The city also lacks specific standards to address energy use, air emissions, and noise from these facilities. Currently, data centers are permitted "by right" in Patterson's industrial zones, meaning they can be built with minimal review, though they can also be developed in commercial zones via a conditional use permit process.
While the report justifying the extension did not mention a specific local data center proposal that emerged in July, it emphasizes the city's need for time to develop adequate regulations. Neighboring Modesto has also explored a data center moratorium, with Mayor Sue Zwahlen noting that data centers are not a permitted land use in Modesto's municipal code. Patterson's report stresses that data center development poses "a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare" due to potential increases in water and energy demand and impacts on land use, air quality, noise, infrastructure, environment, and community aesthetics.