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Residents press Gilroy council to block ICE staging and pause data-center approvals amid water and noise concerns
Summary
Dozens of residents urged the council to join legal action, declare city-owned property off-limits to ICE staging and place a moratorium on future data centers. Speakers said the Amazon data center's water and noise figures have changed since certification and asked for more transparency and delay while the city updates its review process.
Hundreds of residents and advocates filled Gilroy's council chambers on June 15 to press elected officials for immediate steps to protect immigrant communities and to slow or stop data center development.
At public comment, speakers repeatedly urged the council to join an amicus brief backing the county and state lawsuits challenging an ICE processing facility proposed near Gilroy, to adopt a no-staging policy barring use of city property by immigration enforcement, and to prepare an emergency response plan for raids. Jan Guffy, a resident, said: "Please do the next right thing and ban ICE from staging their operations anywhere inside Gilroy." Many speakers linked those demands to broader fears about an Amazon data center already under construction, arguing the city's permitting process allowed a large project to proceed without meaningful community notice.
Water and noise concerns dominated the data-center commentary. Speakers cited discrepancies between figures in the certified EIR and more recent company statements about water use and estimated employment. Georgin Scott Kodiga of Americans for Transparency said the council had been asked on June 5 to issue a written determination under CEQA guideline 15162 addressing changes to water and employment figures, and asked staff to produce a technical memorandum that council members used in their water capacity finding. "That determination has not been issued," he said, urging staff action.
Several residents urged a temporary moratorium on new data centers while the city updates zoning and review procedures and while regional water and energy models are revised. Others asked the council to re-open environmental assessments and to seek independent technical review; one speaker noted that Monterey County recently placed limits on future data-center approvals.
Council response and follow-up: After an extended ASR/code discussion (moved earlier on the agenda because of public interest), council members endorsed staff's recommendation to pursue a zoning code amendment combining expanded public outreach with a Planning Commission review requirement for projects that produce EIR-level "significant and unavoidable" impacts. Mayor and council directed staff to return with draft code language and to put improved project-level web notices and community meeting requirements in place. Council did not vote directly on data-center approvals that evening but agreed to seek clearer notice and review for projects with major environmental impacts and to return with code language in the coming weeks.
What residents asked for: join lawsuits/amicus brief (county/state); declare city property a no-staging zone for immigration enforcement; develop emergency response plans to help vulnerable households during enforcement actions; pause or moratorium on data-center approvals until zoning and water/energy models are updated; release technical memos relied on for water-supply and capacity findings.
What's next: Staff will draft zoning amendments (enhanced outreach + Planning Commission review for significant/unavoidable EIR impacts) for council consideration in August and will respond to specific public records requests about technical water memos; some speakers have also asked the council to place moratorium urgency items on future agendas.
