Monterey Park takes landmark vote on banning data centers

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Residents in the city of Monterey Park will be the first in the nation to vote on a permanent ban on data centers Tuesday.If approved, Measure NDC would prohibit data centers within the city limits and could only be overturned by another vote.Yard signs saying “No Data Center” in English and Chinese with images of dragons line sidewalks in the San Gabriel Valley city.As a wave of data center opposition sweeps the country, numerous towns and counties across the U.S.

have instituted temporary moratoria and other restrictions on the facilities.But only a handful have instituted indefinite bans, and just four other towns have sent related matters to the ballot.

Supporters are hoping the vote will set a precedent for the rest of the region, where residents are fighting proposals in Vernon and City of Industry.“This is about as permanent a ban as we can get,” said Steven Kung, co-founder of the group No Data Center Monterey Park.

“Winning Measure NDC would send a huge message to the rest of the San Gabriel Valley about how residents don’t want data centers.”The ballot measure emerged from the fight against a 247,000-square-foot center proposed in 2024 by the Australian-owned investment firm HMC StratCap for a residential area in Monterey Park.The facility would have sat less than 500 feet away from the nearest home and used three times the electricity of the 60,000-person, predominantly Asian American city.

While the developer touted the potential for jobs and tax revenue, residents expressed concerns about noise and air pollution, rising electricity rates and a potential to lower property values.The company pulled its plans in late March following public outcry and a March 4 city council vote to extend a temporary data center moratorium and place a ban on Tuesday’s ballot.

In a letter to the city council, HMC StratCap said it would pursue a different use for the l...