Monterey Park has become a flashpoint in the national debate over artificial intelligence infrastructure after voters in the Los Angeles County city approved a permanent ban on data centers.
The decision, reached earlier this month, made Monterey Park the first city in the United States to prohibit data centers outright. The vote followed months of neighborhood opposition to a proposed facility that drew protests, lawn signs and public pressure on City Hall.
In March, the Monterey Park City Council voted unanimously to send the ban to voters while also extending a temporary moratorium on data centers. Within weeks, the developer behind the proposed project withdrew its plans.
Mayor Elizabeth Yang said residents who campaigned against the project were pleased with the outcome after months of organizing.
“They spent a lot of time door knocking, putting up signs, fundraising, campaigning,” Yang said. “So it was a lot of community effort.”
The Monterey Park vote comes as communities across California and the country weigh the economic promise of data centers against concerns about power consumption, water use, noise and environmental impacts. A March Gallup poll found that 7 in 10 Americans surveyed opposed having data centers built in their area.
Industry representatives, however, warn that bans could discourage investment. Khara Boender, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, said Monterey Park’s decision sends a message that the area is “closed for business.”
Data centers are the physical backbone of cloud computing and artificial intelligence systems, housing servers that process and store enormous amounts of digital information. California already has at least 287 such facilities, according to the Data Center Coalition. The group says data centers supported more than 665,000 jobs in the state in 2024 and generated $14.1 billion in state and local taxes.
Major technology companies are also pouring unprecedented sums into the sector. Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet are expected to spend a combined $700 billion on data centers worldwide by the end of this year.
Peter Leroe-Muñoz, senior vice president and general counsel for the Bay Area Council, argued that communities risk cutting themselves off from the infrastructure needed for modern business, research and innovation.
“Data centers make modern lives possible,” he said, calling them a platform for “play, productivity and potential” in the current economy.
Still, Monterey Park is not alone in taking a cautious approach. Local governments around California are considering how to regulate the industry as demand for AI-related infrastructure grows.
In Imperial County, supervisors are weighing a temporary moratorium on data center projects after residents criticized the county for moving forward with a proposed facility. In San Jose, where at least 40 data centers already operate, the City Council recently directed the city manager to draft new guidelines for future projects. Some critics remain wary, especially after the city last year promoted a partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric intended to streamline data center development.
For Southern California communities watching the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, Monterey Park’s vote may serve as a test case for how far local governments are willing to go in pushing back against one of the technology industry’s fastest-growing sectors.
Original source: CalMatters
