Alhambra voters back citywide data center ban, early count shows
Alhambra's Measure DB, a citywide data center ban, led about 82% to 18% in unofficial returns, the second such voter ban in Los Angeles County.
- Source Briefing
- Read original source · LAist
- Also reported by NBC Los Angeles
Alhambra voters appear to have approved a citywide ban on data centers. Unofficial returns from the Nov. 3 election show Measure DB passing with 12,496 yes votes to 2,772 no, about 82% to 18%. Results are not certified, and the county canvass is still ahead.
Why it matters
For anyone sourcing land for a data center in the San Gabriel Valley, the question is no longer whether a council can say no, but whether voters will lock that no in. LAist reported that Alhambra would be the second California city to ban data centers by public vote, after Monterey Park in June. Route Fifty’s Nov. 4 roundup said Alhambra was the only California jurisdiction with a data center question on the ballot this cycle.
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The measure did not respond to a specific project. LAist and NBC Los Angeles name no proposed data center in the city. It is a pre-emptive ban, which makes it harder to treat as a one-site dispute that a better design could solve.
The numbers
- 12,496 yes votes and 2,772 no votes in preliminary returns, per the Luminix tally of Nov. 3 results.
- Simple majority was all the measure needed to pass.
- Three steps led here: a council definition of a data center, a June 22 vote adding data centers to the prohibited-use list in office and industrial zones, and a unanimous July 27 vote to send the citywide version to the ballot, LAist reported.
- Route Fifty counted roughly 40 data center ballot measures across 10 states, with opponents winning nearly all of them in early results.
The ballot question asked voters to affirm the council-adopted ban and extend it to every zone, according to NBC Los Angeles.
What’s next
The county registrar must certify the count before the ban is final, and we have not seen a certified total. Expect the city to fold the measure into its municipal code.
Our Nov. 6 story on a City of Industry golf course data center pitch shows where proposals are heading instead: sites in cities without a ban, and with a full environmental review ahead. For more regional coverage, see Los Angeles.
On the record
Our own coverage of the Nov. 6 City of Industry golf course proposal shows the same Southern California pattern: bans in Monterey Park and elsewhere are now shaping where a data center pitch can land.
Our coverage · Read our earlier story
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