On Tuesday, the Oakley City Council unanimously agreed to a temporary moratorium prohibiting data centers within the city of Oakley.
According to City Attorney Derek Cole, the city can only impose a moratorium for 45 days. However, this is the first step of a 2-year moratorium as long as the city is working on policy. Ultimately, the city will work on creating regulations in regards to data centers on an application.
According to Cole, the council will hear in May an extension for up to 1-year as of Tuesday and a year from now, extend for another year.
“The idea is in those two years is that you will be developing and will develop some resolution of how to deal with the issue,” explained Cole. “This is something you do to give yourself a pause.”
Cole did not believe it would take up to two years, but the council and planning commission could have a workshop and give staff an idea of how to draft a zoning ordinance.
Councilmember George Fuller appeared confused about the need for a “pause” since they know data centers are coming. He also was unclear about why it would need to be extended for a year.
Cole explained that the advantage of a Moratorium is that it gives the council something to work with – something similar to cannabis which it created standards. Cole further explained if the council did not approve this tonight, and someone was to place a data center in a proposal, their decision making would be more difficult.
Fuller again asked about why they needed a year moratorium.
Cole said it was state law under zoning ordinances and government code – giving cities the authorization to give a “pause” to create policy on new items that come up and problems that come up. The law wanted to give policymakers a tool to work proactively ahead of any problems. The pause is two-years from an urgency ordinance which takes place tonight, but they have to come back in 45-days to extended it or up to a year and another year for public meetings and notices.
Councilmember Anissa Williams had fear that two years may not be enough, but wanted to get ahead of this so nothing sneaked in at the end of the allowed time and they had an ordinance in place.
Cole admitted he believed they could get this done with a planning commission workshop and a city council workshop – wanting to get this done by early fall. He believed they could introduce an ordinance by the end of the year.
Councilmember Shannon Shaw wanted to streamline the process, possibly doing a joint meeting so months don’t go between meetings.
“I want this to be as strong as possible. I do not want data centers to come in. I don’t want anything to happen where we don’t end up with a quorum. I want to take every possibility of this slipping through the cracks,” said Shaw.
Cole said the item would return in May for an extension.
After public comments Shaw said hypothetically, they could begin to have an ordinance in place by September-October timeline.
“I wholeheartedly support this,” said Shaw. “I’ve said it in meetings, I will say it here tonight, and I will scream it from rooftops that I really want to make sure this is something that we do and we do it right. I want to streamline this process and make it happen as quickly as possible and zero cracks to fall through and put this to bed once and for all.”
Williams agreed while ensuring the timeline works because there is no guarantee the first draft may need changes and it pushes back the timeline. She wanted to combine the workshops with the planning commission to speed up the process.
Fuller said the city needed the protection in the form of an ordinance, however, he was not in agreement with the 45-day moratorium calling it a “trust” issue with City Hall. He was also unsure about timelines calling it a “leap of faith”.
Vice Mayor Aaron Meadows told Fuller that if he had an issue with the 45-days, he should call his local assemblymember or state senator to have them change that. He added he was supportive to move forward with the moratorium.
Williams asked, under state law, could they implement a 2-year ban today?
Cole said “no”.
Williams clarified with Cole, tonight, they could only do the 45-years as an urgency ordinance, then come back with a year extension.
Cole said “yes, that would be the process”.
Mayor Hugh Henderson agreed with the moratorium and wanted it done by the end of the year.
Council then voted 5-0 in favor of the urgency ordinance which would create a joint meeting with the council and the planning commission.
The urgency ordinance required a 4/5 vote of the city council and came after controversy of the Bridgehead Industrial Project – a 164-acre site with 10 buildings ranging from 117,180 sf to 936,680 sf. Although data center use was originally proposed in the project, the applicant removed it during the hearing. The council ultimately approved the project in a 4-1 vote with data centers being a prohibited use. At the March meeting, Councilmember Anissa Williams requested a temporary moratorium on data centers be brought to the city council.
According to the staff report:
State law permits the City to adopt a temporary moratorium ordinance—prohibiting otherwise permitted uses—when those uses conflict with potential land use proposals that the City is considering, studying, or intending to study within a reasonable time. Adoption of such ordinances require a four-fifths vote of the Council. As part of the moratorium ordinance, the Council must find that there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety or welfare of City residents.
Data Centers provide the necessary computing hardware—servers, storage systems, and networking equipment—for the digital economy. However, communities nationwide are experiencing the repercussions from accelerating Data Center land uses, including: increased demands for energy and water consumption; increased noise; crime and security issues; diminished air quality; pollution; aesthetic impacts; and decreased property values and quality of life to surrounding neighborhoods.
Existing utility infrastructure, especially in smaller communities, is often unable to support Data Centers’ intensive demand for electricity, water, and sewage systems. Currently, the City of Oakley Municipal Code (“OMC”) does not regulate, nor define, Data Center land uses. By enacting a temporary moratorium, Council and Staff would have the necessary breathing room to study, deliberate, and determine the acceptable scope of Data Center land uses within City limits. Meanwhile, the City shall not receive, accept, process, or approve any Data Center land use application as long as the ordinance is in effect, including any requests to amend an existing P-1 District to add Data Center as an allowable use.
The proposed urgency ordinance will enable Staff to evaluate impacts, gather public input, and ultimately draft zoning regulations that foster economic growth while protecting the City’s residents. Per Government Code section 65858, an urgency ordinance may initially be enacted for a period of up to 45 days. The City Council thereafter may extend the ordinance up to a maximum of two additional times: first, for a period of 10 months and 15 days; and second, for a period of up to one year. In total, the urgency moratorium may last for two years.
As a condition for adoption of the proposed urgency ordinance, the City Manager, or designee, would be required to prepare a report—describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition which led to adoption of the ordinance—for presentation to the City Council no later than ten days prior to its expiration. Staff believes the Planning Commission would be the proper body to prepare a detailed analysis of the issues concerning, and approaches to regulating, Data Center land uses within City limits.
Documents:
- Staff Report: Click Here
- Draft Ordinance: Click Here
Around the web:
- April 11, 2026 – Maine is poised to ban new data centers. These 11 other states tried and failed.
- April 10, 2026 – Data centers are spreading around the country. Now, data-center bans are, too
- April 9, 2026 – Map of California data centers: See where projects are operating or planned near you
- April 9, 2026 – Maine set to become first state with data center ban
- April 1, 2026 – The US Data Center Boom Is Hitting a Transformer Crunch: Almost half of the US data centers planned for this year are expected to be delayed or canceled. One big reason is the shortage of electrical equipment, such as transformers, switchgear and batteries.
Related
- April 14, 2026 – Oakley to Discuss Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers
- March 23, 2026 – Oakley Looks to Finalize Bridgehead Industrial Project, Council to Talk 5% Pay Raises
- March 11, 2026 – With Data Centers Removed, Oakley Approves Bridgehead Industrial Project
- Jan. 21, 2026 – Split Vote: Oakley Planning Commission Makes Recommendation on Bridgehead Industrial Project
- Dec 13, 2023 – Oakley Receives 3.2 Million Square Feet Bridgehead Industrial Project Application
