Palm Springs City Council approves temporary data center moratorium

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) - Palm Springs City Council members unanimously approved a temporary moratorium on new large-scale data center projects Wednesday night.

The 45-day pause gives the city time to study the potential impacts of the facilities before deciding whether additional regulations are needed.

During public comment, several residents spoke in favor of the moratorium, raising concerns about water use, electricity demand and infrastructure.

"Desert data centers have to use supplemental cooling systems because it's hot," one resident said. “The building of data centers anywhere in Palm Springs or the desert... is catastrophic and wholly irresponsible."

Others spoke against the pause, saying Palm Springs should keep the door open to future development and the opportunities different types of data centers could bring as technology continues to change.

"Everything is changing rapidly, and our needs will change rapidly, especially with our fire departments and with our police departments. So it's important that we protect our future and not stifle or negate possibilities," said another resident.

The item was brought forward by Councilmember Grace Garner and specifically focuses on large-scale data centers.

Councilmembers discussed whether data centers should be clearly defined and addressed in the city's upcoming zoning code update.

Garner said the city needs to be thoughtful about how it regulates an industry that is changing quickly. “And as we've seen in other communities across the country who have not had that happen, there are really huge detriments, and we don't need that to happen here in our community,” she said.

Councilmembers also discussed the possibility of taking as long as two years to develop comprehensive zoning regulations for data centers.

Palm Springs joins other Coachella Valley cities taking action on data center development. Desert Hot Springs and Indio have approved temporary moratoriums, while Coachella approved a permanent ban on Wednesday.

The Palm Springs data center moratorium will remain in effect through Oct. 10.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.