On Tuesday, the Oakley City Council agreed to extend its moratorium on data centers for a period of 10 months and 15 days.
Under an “emergency ordinance” this was the next steps in working on a policy for a process and approval of data center and land use. This will allow staff time to work on a permanent ordinance.
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 City Attorney Derek Cole, two meetings ago the council imposed the moratorium, which is a two-year, multi-step process to have a moratorium in place –including two extensions at the 45-day and extend another 1-year. Tuesday was the first extension which would take Oakley to April 14, 2027.
Cole said a workshop, with both the council and planning commission, would be held to discuss the moratorium. The council directed staff to have something in place by the end of the year.
Councilmember Geroge Fuller shared he believed Oakley was confronting an issue in the United States where 98 communities disallowed permits to construct data centers, but still did not know what they are dealing with yet. He blamed the oligarchy of technology companies driving the development of data centers
“Its quite confined and we really don’t know where it’s going to go,” said Fuller. “We do know they use a lot of energy. 25 percent of the energy produced in Virginia is being directed into data centers. New Jersey, experienced a 22 percent increase in electric bills with data centers when they were introduced… we need to get standards and I do support the city looking at it and building up the standards.”
Councilmember Shannon Shaw said, “I really want this to move forward.”
The council voted 5-0 to extend the moratorium.
Proposed Ordinance: Click Here
Previous
- April 15, 2026 – Oakley Agrees to Urgency Ordinance for Moratorium on Data Centers
- 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