The Palm Springs City Council Wednesday will consider adopting a temporary ban on data centers.
The council will consider adopting an urgency ordinance for a 45-day period that would ban “accepting, processing or approving any applications, permits, entitlements, or other approvals related to data centers while the city evaluated such uses as part of the ongoing citywide zoning code update,” according to a staff report.
Currently, the city’s municipal and zoning codes do not provide clear definitions or regulations relating to data centers.
The staff report noted that other local governments, including Indio, Coachella and Desert Hot Springs, have already taken measures to prohibit data centers and similar land uses.
Data centers, which are defined as facilities that store vast amounts of data and computer systems to perform complicated tasks of traditional computing and artificial intelligence, consume substantial amounts of electricity, water and other local resources, city officials said.
A 4/5ths vote by the council would be required to move forward with the moratorium in order to ensure no applications are approved while staff “assesses the appropriateness of data centers.”
If approved, the moratorium would expire on Oct. 10.
Wednesday’s meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. at 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way.