San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a 45-day urgency ordinance on 6 October, immediately halting approval of permit applications for new data centres and expansions of existing ones, SFGATE reported. The vote puts a citywide pause on new approvals while officials examine the facilities’ effects on nearby communities.
Key points
- San Francisco’s 45-day pause took effect immediately and covers permit approvals for new data centres and expansions.
- The Planning Department will study water, energy, air quality, land use and community impacts.
- The pause could be extended if officials find significant environmental impacts.
- Oakland approved its own 45-day moratorium on 6 October.
Walton’s ordinance draws a line around server rooms
District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton proposed the measure, with supervisors Connie Chan, Jackie Fielder and Cheyenne Chen as co-sponsors, Mission Local reported. Walton’s district includes Bayview-Hunters Point, where several data centres are planned or already operate. He told the board that the city needed time to understand their local and environmental effects.
The ordinance uses a definition drawn from legislation by US Senator Alex Padilla. It covers facilities, or parts of facilities, whose principal purpose is to process, store or distribute electronic data using computing infrastructure. That includes processors, servers, storage and networking equipment, together with the power and cooling systems that support them. Supervisor Matt Dorsey proposed amendments clarifying that the pause does not cover a business’s server room used for its own onsite operations, rather than to meet offsite customers’ data needs.
Walton said the Planning Department currently places data centres in an “internet service exchange” category and that the city does not know how many it has. He also said existing facilities are concentrated in Bayview-Hunters Point and South of Market, neighbourhoods that have borne a disproportionate share of San Francisco’s industrial pollution. The immediate restriction falls on permit approvals while the city examines a more lasting approach.
Planning Department examines five kinds of impact
During the 45-day period, the Planning Department will study data centres’ effects on water, energy, air quality, land use and the surrounding community. The Planning Commission will assess whether facilities across the city pose an environmental threat to nearby residents. The department will hold a hearing to present its findings at the end of the initial period.
If the facilities are found to have significant environmental impacts, the moratorium could run for up to 22 months, or the city could impose permanent controls or restrictions, Mission Local reported. Bloomberg reported that the pause can be extended for roughly two years while officials consider more permanent restrictions.
Walton has raised the approval of a data centre on Paul Avenue as a concern. He said it was granted in 2016 without community input or transparency, under planning conditions he considered outdated. He cited noise and water pollution associated with data centres near residential areas elsewhere in the United States. Those concerns are among the reasons he gave for seeking a pause before the city settles its longer-term rules.
NOVVA expansion pauses at 400 Paul Avenue
One project affected is the expansion of NOVVA’s 7.6-acre data centre at 400 Paul Ave. in Bayview. The facility had been slated to increase its output from nine to 36 megawatts by 2028. The moratorium pauses that expansion. Permits have also been filed for a 160,000-square-foot data centre at 1215 Michigan St. in Dogpatch, where construction has not begun.
Bayview-Hunters Point has two of the city’s largest data centres and has experienced disproportionate air pollution for decades, including pollution associated with truck traffic and a power plant that has since closed. The district’s exposure gives the Planning Department’s work a neighbourhood focus as well as a citywide one. Walton’s term ends in January 2027, potentially before an extended moratorium would expire. Theo Ellington, J.R. Eppler and Dion-Jay Brookter, candidates seeking to replace him, have each expressed support for a moratorium.
Oakland approves a separate 45-day pause
Oakland’s City Council also approved a 45-day data centre moratorium on the night of 6 October. Councilmember Carroll Fife proposed the measure, CBS News reported. Residents rallied outside Oakland City Hall before the vote, raising concerns about neighbourhood effects, resource use and the benefits communities receive from the facilities.
Oakland officials can extend their pause after the initial 45 days. Other Bay Area cities where data centre proposals have encountered opposition include Pittsburg, Oakley and Gilroy. In September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a series of bills aimed at regulating data centre development.
