Gilroy City Council adopts moratorium on new data centers
The Gilroy City Council unanimously approved a temporary 45-day moratorium on new data center development to allow time for the creation of new zoning and operational standards. This decision addresses resident concerns about environmental impacts and aims to involve community input in future regulations. An existing Amazon data center project on Camino Arroyo is unaffected, but any new applications will be subject to the moratorium.
The Gilroy City Council unanimously approved a temporary citywide moratorium on new data center development, effective immediately for 45 days. This interim urgency ordinance, which can be extended for up to two years under state law, prohibits the city from accepting or approving new data center applications and entitlements.
The measure was adopted in response to growing community concerns about the environmental impact of data centers, following the start of construction on an Amazon Web Services facility on Camino Arroyo. Residents have called for tighter land use policies and a moratorium. Mayor Greg Bozzo emphasized that the action gives the city and community time to develop appropriate standards for future data center development, incorporating public input.
While the moratorium will not affect the ongoing construction of the Amazon Web Services data center on Camino Arroyo, it will apply to any new applications, including a pre-application already received from Amazon for another facility. The city's current zoning code classifies data centers broadly, and the moratorium period will be used to study potential changes to the city code and develop specific recommendations concerning issues such as water use, electrical demand, noise, aesthetics, and backup generator emissions.
Neighboring Morgan Hill also approved a temporary data center moratorium in August to research new zoning rules, highlighting a regional trend in addressing data center growth.