Several Bay Area cities are pumping the brakes on data centers. While they’re not necessarily banning the facilities, they want to make sure proper regulations are in place.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and four council members have proposed a temporary pause on data centers this week, as reported by several media outlets. The council plans to vote on that next week. The city's planning commission also plans to review development standards and community benefit requirements on Wednesday.
In San Francisco, the land use committee plans to vote next week on extending its moratorium another 10 months and 15 days. This follows a report released this week that discusses the potential impacts of new data centers when it comes to land use, urban design and economic development, among other areas.
On Tuesday, Oakland extended its moratorium on data centers to October 2027. This gives staff time to research the impacts, gather community input and propose new regulations.
Also on Tuesday, the Fairfield City Council unanimously approved a 45-day urgency ordinance that holds any data center applications from getting accepted, processed or approved.
These actions come as 60% of Americans say they would not be comfortable with a data center opening in their area, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in September.
