On Tuesday, the Oakley Planning Commission made a recommendation to the city council to approve the Bridgehead Industrial Project. However, the council added a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) when it comes to data centers.
The project was approved in a 3-2 vote with Oakley Commissioners Leonard Price, Sean Ireland and Pierre Goudie. Meanwhile, commissioners Kerry Harvey and Yared Oliveros voted against. The recommendation will now go before the Oakley City Council at some point in the next month or so for final approval.
The applicant admitted the project provides flexibility for businesses of all sizes from small buildings to large buildings and they were not sure yet who would be the tenants in the buildings—they were attempting to keep it as open as possible while understanding they needed to be good neighbors given they were next to a neighborhood.
After public comments, the commission provided some direction to staff.
Commissioner Sean Ireland shared he would support the project with a Conditional Use Permit added for data centers—calling it a good balancing act.
Commission Chair Leanard Price called the data centers a big sticking point and the commission needed a bullet point, so it didn’t go forward as is—noting the city council has the final say and they are only making a recommendation.
Commissioner Yared Oliveros asked if they could revisit the design later to ensure it doesn’t become an eye sore for those visiting Big Break Regional Shoreline. She also suggested the façade of the building look less industrial. She questioned how they could shift the design.
Staff said the design could be looked at by first going back to the applicant and architect to see if there was an opportunity, but they could also add it into the recommendation for the design-review for entitlements—staff wanted more specific direction.
Oliveros wanted less “cookie cutter” designs and more proposals.
Ireland made the motion to address data centers at the recommendation of staff from a permitted use to a conditional use—requiring approval.
“I make one motion to approve both proposed resolutions recommending to the city council with the addition to the project entitlements being adjusted with the conditional permit use for data centers as discussed with city staff,” stated Ireland.
Much of the discussion Tuesday was focused on data centers, however, many Oakley community members expressed other concerns which included:
- Air quality, Environmental removal of trees
- Impact on Big Break Regional Shoreline and Big Break Marina
- Design/eye sore
- Health concerns (multiple)
- Infrastructure – water/energy, Ironhouse Sanitary District & Delta Diablo Water
- Noise/Blight
- Traffic
From the Staff Report
The planning commission will look at the Application Requesting Approval of a General Plan Amendment, Rezone, Tentative Map, Design Review,
Master Sign Program, and Development Agreement, including Certification of an Environmental Impact Report.
According to the Project Description, as submitted March 25, 2025, The following is a brief description of the entitlement applications submitted to the City Oakley:
- Rezoning the North Development Area from Business Park Low (BPL) to Planned Unit Development (P-1) to allow for uses in compliance with the General Plan designation of Light Industrial (LI).
- Rezoning of the South Development Area from Commercial (C) to Planned Unit Development (P-1).
- General Plan Amendment for the South Development Area from Commercial (CO) to Light Industrial (LI).
- Adoption of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) providing development standards, design guidelines, and implementation details for the development of the 164-acre project with warehouse, logistics, and data center buildings totaling 3.1-million square feet of building area.
- Tentative Subdivision applications to divide the entire project site into 10 lots to create a cohesive master plan for development of the overall property. This would create lots to facilitate phase one development of the Industrial area, as well as road dedications and backbone utility infrastructure.
- Design Review (Development Plan) Application for the development of the entire 164-acre site to include all buildings, site plan including parking and internal circulation, building architecture, civil engineering including grading, storm drainage, utilities, and site details, and preliminary landscape architecture.
- Signage program as included in the PUD.
- Development Agreement
Project Site Details:
The Project site is divided into two distinct development areas, north and south, as described in the PUD. The project envisions the development of approximately 3.1-million square feet of industrial warehouse and logistic buildings and potentially data center uses.
Project construction for the entire development is anticipated to be completed within 6 to 10 years. It will include the construction of approximately 3.1 million SF of warehouse, logistics, and data center buildings, as well as all related on-site improvements, including the associated parking areas, circulation, stormwater features, landscaping, and off-site street improvements.
It is anticipated that the Project facilities will likely function 24 hours a day, seven days a week
According to the Development Agreement (Item 7), WHEREAS, the Project’s Existing Development Approvals set forth in detail on Exhibit “C” and incorporated herein by this reference, the Project generally permits 3.1 million square feet of light industrial warehouse and logistic buildings and potentially data center uses on the Property, as well as utility facilities, associated roadways and other necessary infrastructure; and
However, according to the Economic Impact Analysis (Item 8), at buildout, Bridgehead is estimated to yield a net fiscal surplus for the City’s General Fund ranging from approximately $1.1 million to $1.4 million annually. Meanwhile, the largest General Fund revenues generated by the Project, including $587,000 a year in property taxes and $619,000 annually in property tax in-lieu of vehicle license fees, are directly tied to new assessed value. The Project’s estimated impact on General Fund expenditures for Police ranges from approximately $158,000 per year under a distribution-focused scenario, with relatively fewer on-site employees, to $434,000 per year under a manufacturing- focused scenario.
Within the Proposed Resolution Recommending the Oakley City Council Certify the Project EIR (Item 11), it again highlights the project objective is to construct and operate light industrial and logistics buildings and potentially data centers to provide for an underserved local demand
Project Documents
Oakley Staff Report – click here
- Vicinity Map – click here
- Notice of Public Hearing – click here
- Applicant’s Project Description (dated March 25, 2025) – click here
- Applicant’s Planned Unit Development (dated March 20, 2025) – click here
- Applicant’s Plans (dated stamped received on July 22, 2024) – click here
- Applicant’s Architectural Renderings – click here
- Proposed Development Agreement – click here
- Fiscal and Economic Impact Analysis by EPS (dated October 3, 2025) – click here
- Late Draft EIR Comment Letter on Draft EIR Submitted by Advocates for the Environment (received November 14, 2025) – click here
- Response to Late Draft EIR Comment Letter Submitted by Advocates for the Environment – click here
- Proposed Resolution Recommending the City Council Certify the Project EIR – click here
- Proposed Resolution Recommending the City Council Approve the Project Entitlement – click here
Data Center headlines from around the web:
- CNN – Here’s how AI data centers affect the electrical grid (Jan 18, 2026)
- Fox7 – Environmental experts say Texas data centers come with uncertainty (Jan 10, 2026)
- CNBC – Bernie Sanders and Ron DeSantis speak out against data center boom. It’s a bad sign for AI industry (Jan 1, 2026)
- CNBC – Red-hot Texas is getting so many data center requests that experts see a bubble (Dec 12, 2025)
- Texas Tribute – Data centers are thirsty for Texas’ water, but state planners don’t know how much they will need (Sept. 25, 2025)
- CCNews – AVAIO Digital Partners Achieves Major Milestone for Pittsburg Technology Park “Perseus” Data Center Project (Dec 2024)
