Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...BRENTWOOD — As data centers continue to be a regional and national hot-button issue over their use of resources compared to the benefits they can provide to residents, Brentwood leaders are looking for ways to ban such facilities from coming to their city.
In a joint request, Councilmembers Faye Maloney and Jovita Mendoza are seeking to place on a future agenda an ordinance that would prohibit the “establishment, construction, expansion, or operation of any new data center facilities” within the city’s limits, said Maloney.
According to Maloney, data centers may not be the “best use” for the limited industrial land available to a city with a long history of agriculture and farming. She also was concerned about potential resource constraints and health hazards posed by data centers.
“This is why I’m asking for this item. We need to hear from our residents, businesses, and our community before the council considers any final action,” said Maloney. “So far, everything I’ve seen recently from our community, including Brentwood, there is a concern. It’s best to be proactive rather than reactive in this situation.”
Maloney said the item could be discussed as soon as July.
“Because this is a request from me and Councilmember Mendoza at this moment. In order for it to take any traction, we have to have a vote on it and direction from the whole council,” said Maloney. “So, it should come back to us, I believe, in the next council meeting, for a review of the agenda item to see if it’s going to go anywhere.”
Mendoza said it was vital to address an issue that had so many unknown factors.
“I have a fear of this being a data center bubble. I see so many of them being planned (nationwide), but at the end of the day, there’s only going to be so many winners and everyone else will be losers,” said Mendoza.
She also questioned what happens to the infrastructure that hosts data centers once the demand tapers off. Aside from potential water, noise, and environmental impacts, Mendoza said there should be better use of land to generate more jobs for residents.
“A handful of jobs don’t help the people in the city. To me it’s more important to help the people in the city versus filling the city’s coffers,” Mendoza said.
In April, neighboring Oakley became the first Bay Area city to approve a 45-day moratorium prohibiting the city from accepting, processing, or approving any land-use applications for data centers.
A month later, Oakley extended the moratorium until April 2027, giving officials more time to fully evaluate their impacts and develop a permanent ordinance to regulate such uses.
In Pittsburg, hundreds of residents showed up to a City Council meeting on June 15 to oppose a data center approved in 2024.
Some residents said they were caught off guard and had only recently learned about a potential data center that could be built in Pittsburg Technology Park, located along West Leland Road on the site of the former Delta View Golf Course, which closed in 2018.