Why this matters
County supervisors are pumping the brakes on projects that have generated public health concerns and that require vast energy and water resources.
Imperial County will not allow data centers to be built for a full year to give an advisory board time to weigh in on rules for future development. The county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the moratorium on Tuesday.
The county will still receive and process applications for new projects but cannot issue approvals under an urgency ordinance it had enacted last month when it approved a 45-day moratorium and which will now last for 365 days.
County counsel Geoffrey Holbrook said the moratorium would “prevent the issuance of permits for the duration of the moratorium, and whatever the outcome of the process is, that could change the different land-use regulations.
Anything currently would be subject to those new rules should they be adopted.”
That means the moratorium would apply to Huntington Beach developer Sebastian Rucci’s massive AI data center proposal at Aten and Clark roads unless it is overturned in court.
Rucci filed a lawsuit against the moratorium when the board passed it last month.
“We are disappointed that the county proceeded with an extension while the first moratorium is being challenged in court,” Rucci said. “We will challenge the second one and continue our efforts to protect our rights from arbitrary government action.”
Tuesday, the supervisors also appointed some of the representatives to a new advisory board that will bring them recommendations on zoning and building policies related to data centers by January 2027. Others will be appointed by city leaders in the county.
The board will be composed of:
- Two members of the Board of Supervisors (John Hawke and Peggy Price)
- Two representatives of community interests
- One representative each from local government, the environmental sector, organized labor, the healthcare community, the education community, a nonprofit organization, the business community and the energy industry.
The board also voted to add a representative from the Imperial Irrigation District, the county’s main utility.
