Monterey Park, California Enacts Permanent Data Center Ban
Monterey Park, California, became the first U.S. city to permanently ban new data centers after residents voted 86% to forbid the development. The decision, driven by concerns over electricity consumption and a perceived lack of community benefits, highlights a broader discussion on how cities evaluate private development.
In June 2026, Monterey Park, California, made headlines as the first city in the U.S. to enact a permanent ban on new data centers. The decision followed months of intense city council meetings and a significant resident vote, where 86 percent supported forbidding data center construction. Opponents argued that data centers, despite being quiet and having low municipal service demands, offered no perceived community benefits like school enrollment or reduced traffic.
The article, an opinion piece by Mark Moses, a senior fellow with the California Policy Center, uses Monterey Park's action to critique how local governments often evaluate private development based on financial contributions rather than property rights. Moses points out that cities frequently view development through the lens of fiscal strategy, penalizing projects like data centers that do not fit traditional categories like housing or retail.
The piece cites examples from other cities, including Tucson, where the city council rejected the Amazon-linked Project Blue in 2025 over "sustainability" concerns, and Coachella, which initially courted and then banned data centers. Moses argues that concerns like water, noise, and electricity, though valid, should be addressed through objective standards rather than categorical bans. He specifically addresses electricity concerns in Monterey Park, where the proposed data center would have drawn twice the city's power, asserting that large data centers can actually help stabilize electricity rates by spreading fixed costs.