Whittier adopts 45-day data center moratorium amid regional wave
Whittier approved a 45-day moratorium on data center permits, joining five nearby cities, while LA County delays its hyperscale ban vote.
Whittier’s city council has approved a 45-day moratorium on new permits for data centers, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported on Oct. 30. The pause also covers car washes, massage parlors and detention centers, and it gives the city time to write permanent zoning rules.
Why it matters
The practical effect for a data center developer is that eastern Los Angeles County keeps shrinking. FOX 11 said Baldwin Park, Commerce, Montebello, West Covina and South El Monte have approved similar temporary bans. Monterey Park went further in June with a permanent voter-approved ban.
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Whittier’s pause is not tied to a named project. FOX 11 mentioned no proposal in the city, so this is a rules-first move rather than a fight over one site. Councilmember Vicky Santana said the state had not regulated data centers this legislative session.
The numbers
- 45 days is the initial moratorium, which the council could extend on Dec. 8 by 10 months and 15 days, FOX 11 reported.
- Up to two years of total extensions could follow while permanent zoning is drafted.
- At least 26 resolutions, moratoriums or bans have been passed or proposed in California since June, according to Food & Water Watch, cited by CalMatters on Oct. 22.
- 366 California data centers are operating, under construction or planned, per the US Data Center Map figure CalMatters used.
CalMatters also reported that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors postponed a vote on permanently banning hyperscale data centers on unincorporated land after heavy public comment. It did not give a new date.
What’s next
Watch the Dec. 8 council meeting, when Whittier could lengthen the pause. FOX 11 framed the moratorium as coming ahead of Proposition 45, the statewide measure that would streamline some approvals. Whether it reaches data centers is disputed, and we have not seen certified results.
We found no Whittier council agenda or ordinance text, so this relies on FOX 11’s account. For more regional coverage, see Los Angeles.
Sources
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