Monterey Park, California, made history Tuesday when residents voted to permanently ban datacenters from their community, marking the first time Americans have used a ballot initiative to block the facilities outright rather than relying on city council action alone.
With 86.3% of early votes supporting the ban, the measure far exceeded the 51% threshold needed to pass. While election officials were still tallying ballots, the overwhelming margin left little doubt about the outcome. City Councilmember Jose Sanchez called it a "landslide victory" that sends a powerful message to other communities wrestling with datacenter expansion.
"This shows unequivocally that residents in Monterey Park do not want datacenters in their community," Sanchez said. "We hope that other communities will use the model set by residents here in Monterey Park as inspiration to stop data centers from encroaching in their backyard."
The ban covers the city permanently "until ended by voters," giving residents ongoing control of the issue. The city council had already passed an indefinite moratorium in April after an investment firm called HMC StratCap proposed a sprawling 250,000-square-foot facility. Residents opposed the project over concerns about air quality, water resources, electricity costs, and water rates.
Sanchez, who teaches high school civics when not serving on council, said the ballot measure carried additional legal weight. HMC StratCap had threatened to challenge the council's moratorium in court. A voter-approved ban, Sanchez argued, would prove more defensible legally than an ordinance passed by five council members. The company has since withdrawn its application and indicated it would not pursue litigation.
The datacenter industry pushed back hard. The Data Center Coalition, a trade group that tracks facility development nationwide, warned that the ban "sends a signal that the area is closed for business" and would cost residents jobs and tax revenue. But Monterey Park voters sided decisively with local environmental advocates.
Amy J. Wong, co-founder of San Gabriel Valley Progressive Action and a key organizer against the datacenters, said grassroots pressure forced city officials to take the issue seriously. "They recognized so many residents are angry, and, if they move forward with the datacenter, they could possibly be voted out," she said. Even with just two months to mount a campaign, her group printed 10,000 flyers and sent mailers in English, Chinese, and Spanish to educate voters on how to cast their ballots correctly.
Monterey Park's victory stands out in a broader national movement against AI-powered datacenters. While many cities and counties have adopted temporary moratoriums through council votes, no other community has put such a ban directly before voters and won. Port Washington, Wisconsin, approved a ballot measure requiring voter consent before officials can offer tax incentives to datacenter developers, but that falls short of an outright prohibition.
Other communities are moving toward similar steps. Augusta Township in Michigan will hold a referendum in August on rezoning 500 acres for a proposed datacenter. Janesville, Wisconsin, plans a November vote on requiring voter approval for any datacenter project costing more than $450 million.
The appetite for local action reflects national sentiment. A Gallup poll found seven in 10 Americans oppose building AI datacenters in their areas. Across the country, residents are demanding protective ordinances, and at least a dozen states are considering statewide moratoriums this legislative session, though none have been signed into law. The issue has even become a flashpoint in gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania and Georgia, where challengers have taken harder lines against AI facility expansion than their opponents.
California, home to much of the tech industry, has not pursued a statewide moratorium. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer, who previously backed one, has since walked back his support. Several other Bay Area communities, including El Monte, Baldwin Park, and Montebello, have approved temporary bans of their own.
Author James Rodriguez: "Monterey Park just proved that a determined community with grassroots energy can beat back corporate interests at the ballot box, and that's a template other cities facing the same pressure will almost certainly copy."
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