California City Approves First Voter-Enacted Data Center Ban. 4 Min Read. Aerial view of Monterey Park residential area. Voters overwhelmingly approve Measure NDC, enacting the first municipal ban on data center development in the US.Getty Images. UPDATED Monterey Park, California, voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure prohibiting data centers within city limits, creating what appears to be the first voter-enacted municipal ban on data center development in the US. The measure passed with roughly 86% support.. The vote caps a months-long fight over a proposed 247,000-square-foot data center backed by Australian investment firm HMC StratCap. Planned for a 15.8-acre site in the city’s Saturn Business Park, the facility would have been located less than 500 feet from the nearest home and required about 50 MW of power at peak demand.. The project became a flashpoint in a city of roughly 60,000 residents. While the developer promoted tax revenue, jobs, and infrastructure investment, opponents raised concerns about power demand, diesel generators, noise, air quality, water use, electricity costs, and property values. The proposal included a new substation and backup generation infrastructure.. Related:Maine Vetoes Data Center Moratorium, but Pressure Continues. From Moratorium to Ban. Public opposition escalated rapidly after residents learned of the proposal. In January, the Monterey Park City Council unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on data center development while evaluating long-term policy options. The council later extended the moratorium, advanced a permanent ban, and placed Measure NDC on the June ballot.. The developer withdrew the project in March as opposition mounted and city leaders moved toward a permanent prohibition. But city officials continued pursuing the ballot measure, arguing that a voter-approved ban would be harder to reverse than an ordinance alone.. “If a council puts in an ordinance, a future council can reverse it too,” Mayor Elizabeth Yang told the Los Angeles Times. “With the ballot measure, unbanning it is a lot harder because you need the entire city to vote on it.”. Measure NDC amends Monterey Park’s land-use framework to prohibit data centers citywide unless voters later choose to repeal the restriction. The ballot language states the measure is intended to protect air quality, drinking water resources, public health, and utility rates.. Opposition Moves Beyond Individual Projects. The outcome arrives as developers race to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence workloads. Utilities across the country are receiving requests for massive new power connections, while communities increasingly challenge projects over concerns about energy use, water consumption, transmission infrastructure, noise, and environmental impacts.. David Spence, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who studies energy and infrastructure policy, told Data Center Knowledge that opposition to data centers appears to be expanding beyond isolated local disputes.. Related:Why Communities Are Protesting Data Centers – And How the Industry Can Respond. “People all over seem to be rising up against data centers,” Spence said.. Spence said the resistance may stem from concerns about rising energy costs, distrust of technology companies, or fears about the societal impacts of artificial intelligence.. “People associate them with higher energy costs… or tech billionaires who seem blind to the concerns of average people,” he said. “Or maybe they fear what AI will do to us, which is not an unreasonable fear.”. Monterey Park is not alone. Earlier this year, researchers tracking opposition to data center development identified organized resistance efforts across dozens of projects nationwide. From Maine to Wisconsin, communities have pushed for moratoriums, permit denials, and new restrictions as concerns over AI-driven infrastructure growth spread beyond traditional data center markets.. That trend has begun to reshape how the industry thinks about site selection. In a recent interview with Data Center Knowledge, Schneider Electric executive Steven Carlini said “community support has become just as material as technical feasibility” as developers pursue larger AI-focused campuses.. Most local disputes have centered on individual projects or temporary pauses. Monterey Park went further. Voters approved a prohibition that can only be overturned through another citywide vote.. Whether Monterey Park remains an outlier or becomes a model for other communities remains unclear. Communities have challenged projects, delayed approvals, and won moratoriums. Monterey Park delivered a ban.. Jack Gold, president and principal analyst at J.Gold Associates, said he expects Monterey Park will not be the last community to push back on data center development.. “I expect this not to be an isolated incident,” Gold told Data Center Knowledge.. Gold said residents are increasingly concerned about the resources required to support AI infrastructure, including electricity and water consumption, while questioning the long-term economic benefits.. “Users are up in arms about the cost to them and the resources it will take away from the community,” he said. “And the relatively few jobs it will create to run the datacenters long term.”. Ihab Osman, an independent strategist focused on data center and mission-critical infrastructure, told Data Center Knowledge the Monterey Park vote should be viewed as a warning sign for the industry rather than an isolated local dispute.. “This is the market warning shot,” Osman said. “AI infrastructure is scaling faster than the local consent model.”. Osman said future projects will need to demonstrate clear benefits to host communities before opposition becomes politically entrenched.. “The viable projects will be the ones that can prove grid logic, water discipline, economic value, and public legitimacy before opposition hardens into law,” he said.. Read more about:. About the Author
