Last week, Coachella became the first city in Riverside County to adopt an ordinance permanently banning data centers.
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The decision came after months of backlash to a now-cancelled agreement with Coachella Valley Power Services LLC, a subsidiary of Stronghold Power Systems Inc.
“This is a lesson for all of us, not just for you guys in the position that you are, but also for us to know that we do have to keep track of what’s going on in the city,” Carla Rocha, a Coachella resident, said at the August 26 meeting. “If it wasn’t for all of the organizations that got together and started informing the community and pushing out this information, a lot of us wouldn’t be here.”
The ordinance, previously approved by the council, is set to go into effect 30 days following the council’s vote.
On the same night, roughly 30 miles away, the Palm Springs City Council unanimously voted to implement a temporary ban on the land use in order to evaluate the impacts and develop appropriate regulation for the city.
“This doesn’t mean that we’re anti-technology or closing the door on innovation in Palm Springs,” Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein said of the decision. “It’s just that the rate of change, as we said, is moving faster than we’ve ever seen, and technology is so powerful, and this is why how we govern actually matters.”
The 45-day moratorium prohibits the city from accepting, processing or approving any applications or permits related to data centers, which are defined as structures or sites used primarily for the “storage, management, processing, and transmission of digital data and that houses computer or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data storage, processing, and related operations.”
Omitted from the ordinance are computer, server or telecommunications equipment that is secondary and incidental to the principal permitted use of a building, such as servers or IT equipment found at hospitals, offices, hotels or other businesses.
Councilmember Grace Garner, who brought the item forward, said she felt it was important to allow the city and community to be cautious and thoughtful in its approach to, specifically, hyperscale data centers.
“I really think it’s important that we’re really having these conversations…with the community, making sure that we understand the needs of everyone, understand the needs of the hospital, the needs of existing facilities that might have quite a lot of computing equipment,” she said at the August 26 meeting.
Unlike other cities that have taken action on data centers, Palm Springs is in the middle of updating its zoning code, a process Planning Director Chris Hadwin said should be completed within a year and would include language regarding data centers.
“I would like to say [the] first quarter of next year, but I think it’s just going to depend on how the outreach this fall and early next year goes,” Hadwin said. “These public processes sometimes drag out, but the goal is certainly the first half of next year.”
Many of those who spoke at the meeting shared concerns about the impacts of hyperscale data centers including environmental, community and economic impacts. Hadwin said city staff was concerned about many of the same issues, including water and electricity use, the lack of permanent jobs created and impacts to local infrastructure and services including fire and police.
Similar concerns have been the basis of actions taken by cities across the county including Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indio and Perris.
Both Indio and Perris city councils have taken steps toward a full ban, while the Desert Hot Springs City Council has directed staff to study the potential impact of potential data center projects in the city.
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