San Jose leaders move to pause data center approvals until stricter rules come up for a December vote

San Jose's mayor and four council members want to stop the city from approving any new data centers until it finishes writing the rules those projects will have to follow.

Mayor Matt Mahan and Councilmembers Pamela Campos, David Cohen, Peter Ortiz and Domingo Candelas announced the proposal Thursday, San José Spotlight reported. It would pause land-use approvals for data centers until the City Council votes on uniform development standards, now set for Dec. 8. The Spotlight's account did not say when the council would take up the pause itself.

The proposal follows the Spotlight's earlier reporting that a Google project at 5087 Disk Drive in Alviso could win approval before the standards are in place. That project would draw 250 megawatts, enough electricity for about 250,000 households, according to the outlet.

What the standards would require

Mahan described the draft as the strictest proposed data center rules in the country, telling the Spotlight they include 100% clean energy, closed-loop water systems, union labor, noise monitoring and enforcement, and bans on nondisclosure agreements and public subsidies. "But none of that matters if we allow projects to slip through just before these standards are adopted," he told the outlet.

Under the draft, developers would be encouraged to buy power from San Jose Clean Energy, and diesel backup generators would have to meet the toughest federal emission standards and run only during outages. The city would also bar open-loop cooling that uses drinking water, requiring recycled water or closed-loop systems instead. The San Jose Planning Commission is scheduled to review the latest draft Nov. 18.

Planning Director Chris Burton wrote that the standards do not answer every concern raised during outreach but strike a balance between economic development and responsible growth, the Spotlight reported.

Critics want more time

Residents and environmental groups have pressed for a full moratorium for months. Linda Hutchins-Knowles, co-founder of Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, told the Spotlight she welcomed the pause but called the city's engagement process "rushed and insufficient" and said the halt should run past the current timeline.

A joint statement from eight groups, including Green Foothills and the Sierra Club's Loma Prieta Chapter, asked for a moratorium long enough to study the combined effects of the 16 data center projects in the city's pipeline, which they said could triple San Jose's energy use.

When the draft was presented last month, residents also faulted it for not addressing heat island effects or low-frequency noise.

Ortiz told the Spotlight the pause is "not about stopping development" but about making sure the industry contributes to the community it relies on.

Sources

sanjosespotlight.com