LA County Supervisors to Consider Developing Data Center Ban

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider a motion by Supervisor Hilda Solis directing the Department of Regional Planning to develop a zoning amendment that would prohibit large-scale, hyperscale and artificial-intelligence data centers in every zone of unincorporated Los Angeles County. The amendment would classify facilities according to factors such as size, energy use and water consumption while exempting certain smaller or beneficial-use facilities.

The motion follows a county study of data centers’ potential health, environmental and safety effects and more than 100 pages of public comments, most calling for a moratorium. It would also examine noise regulations, fund a California Environmental Quality Act analysis and prepare county agencies to introduce a moratorium if a proposed facility poses an immediate threat to public health, safety or environmental resources. The proposal is part of broader opposition to data center development in the San Gabriel Valley, where several cities have adopted or considered restrictions.