ATTACHMENT C
(Draft Ordinance)
Ordinance No.
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, IN ACCORDANCE WITH
CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65858,
EXTENDING AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO.
2134 TO TEMPORARILY PROHIBIT THE APPROVAL OF
ANY LAND USE ENTITLEMENTS AND/OR PERMITS TO
ALLOW THE OPERATION OF DATA CENTERS FOR AN
ADDITIONAL PERIOD OF TWENTY-TWO (22) MONTHS
AND FIFTEEN (15) DAYS IN THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS
City Attorney’s Summary
This ordinance would extend the ban on the approval of data center applications within the City of Palm Springs for an additional 22 months and 15 days.
WHEREAS, on August 26, 2026, the City Council adopted Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 2134 establishing a 45-day moratorium to prohibit the acceptance, processing, or approval of applications, permits, entitlements, or other approvals related to data centers within the City of Palm Springs; and
WHEREAS, for the purposes of Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 2134, “data center” means a structure or site used primarily for the storage, management, processing, and transmission of digital data and that houses computer or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data storage, processing, and related operations. Data center uses include data storage facilities, small data storage facilities, server farms, artificial intelligence training or processing, image processing, cloud computing, email servicing, and other similar uses and appurtenant facilities. This definition does not include computer, server, or telecommunications equipment that is secondary and customarily incidental to an otherwise permitted principal use on the property, such as servers or IT equipment serving a hospital, office, hotel, or other business located on the same site; and
WHEREAS, The Palm Springs Municipal and Zoning Codes currently do not provide definitions or regulations pertaining to data centers and their related uses, and there are no policies or guidelines in effect for such uses. Additionally, no zoning standards, performance requirements, setback rules, noise standards, utility demand thresholds, or environmental mitigation requirements specifically applicable to data centers have been adopted. Absent the moratorium, a developer could submit and process a land use application under existing zoning designations not designed to accommodate such uses, resulting in ambiguity as to whether that use is permitted and also what standards might apply to such application; and Ordinance No.
WHEREAS, Additional time is required for the City to conduct comprehensive analyses of data centers to understand their benefits and impacts, evaluate the appropriateness of such uses within the City, and develop land use regulations as a part of the ongoing citywide Zoning Code Update process; and WHEREAS, Under California Government Code Section 65858, the City Council is authorized to extend an interim urgency ordinance for an additional period of twenty- two (22) months and fifteen (15) days by a four-fifths vote.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The purpose of this Ordinance is to extend Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 2134 under California Government Code Section 65858 temporarily prohibiting the acceptance, processing, or approval of applications and permits related to data centers within the City of Palm Springs for an additional period of twenty-two (22) months and fifteen (15) days while the City conducts comprehensive analyses of data centers, evaluates the appropriateness of data centers, and develops land use regulations as a part of the ongoing citywide Zoning Code Update process. The extension is necessary because there would be an immediate threat to the public peace, health, safety, and welfare without the moratorium for the following reasons:
a) Comprehensive analyses of data centers and their potential impacts have not been completed. Without appropriate study and standards, data centers could impose substantial and potentially irreversible impacts on local water supplies, electrical infrastructure, air quality, and community character. b) Approval of data center projects before completion of the City’s review of its Zoning Ordinance and associated regulations may adversely affect grid reliability, increase the risk of service interruptions, strain emergency backup systems, and impair the ability of utility providers to serve existing residential, commercial, school, hospital, and public safety uses.
c) Data centers frequently generate comparatively low employment densities relative to the intensity of land consumption, infrastructure demand, and utility usage associated with such facilities, thereby raising substantial land use compatibility and public welfare concerns regarding the long-term allocation of scarce industrial land and utility resources.
d) Approval of data center facilities without an appropriate regulatory framework to ensure such evaluations are considered may create immediate and unacceptable risks to emergency response operations, firefighter safety, and neighboring properties.
e) Uncontrolled proliferation of data centers may contribute to increased utility costs borne by residents and existing businesses through infrastructure expansion, peak demand impacts, and utility cost shifting.
Ordinance No.
f) The City of Palm Springs’ Municipal Code does not define or regulate data centers as a land use category. No zoning standards, performance requirements, setback rules, noise standards, utility demand thresholds, or environmental mitigation requirements specifically applicable to data centers have been adopted. Without the moratorium, a developer could submit and process a land use application under existing zoning designations not designed to accommodate such uses, resulting in ambiguity as to whether that use is permitted and also what standards might apply to such application. g) The City’s existing zoning code and development standards were adopted before the emergence of modern hyperscale and artificial intelligence-oriented data centers and therefore do not adequately regulate the intensity, utility demand, operational characteristics, environmental impacts, or cumulative impacts associated with such facilities.
h) The existing development standards do not presently include sufficient operational limitations, water efficiency standards, recycled water requirements, drought contingency provisions, or cumulative water demand thresholds specifically applicable to data centers.
i) Absent immediate action, applications for new data centers or conversion of existing structures into data centers could be submitted, processed, and vested under existing regulations before the City completes the necessary review of its Zoning Ordinance and adopts updated regulations specifically tailored to address the unique operational, environmental, infrastructure, and public safety impacts associated with such uses.
SECTION 2. Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 2134 is hereby extended to August 25, 2028, or until the City completes the Zoning Code Update and a new Zoning Code is adopted by the City Council establishing regulations for data centers, whichever is earlier.
The approval of applications and permits related to data centers within the City of Palm Springs shall be prohibited while this Ordinance is in effect.
SECTION 3. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act. The City Council finds that the extension of the Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 2134 is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment), 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378), and 15061(b)(3) (there is no possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. The adoption of this Ordinance maintains the status quo; it prevents changes in the environment pending the completion of zoning code revisions and related impact studies.
SECTION 4. Effective Date. This Urgency Ordinance was adopted by the necessary four-fifths vote of the members of the City Council pursuant to California Ordinance No.
Government Code Section 65858, and shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
SECTION 5. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions of the Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED BY THE PALM SPRINGS CITY
COUNCIL THIS 30TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2026.
NAOMI SOTO
MAYOR
ATTEST:
BRENDA PREE, MMC
CITY CLERK
Ordinance No.
CERTIFICATION
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss.
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS )
I, BRENDA PREE, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, California, do hereby certify that Urgency Ordinance No. is a full, true, and correct copy, and was adopted by a four fifths vote at a regular meeting of the City Council held on August 26, 2026 by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Palm Springs, California, this 30th day of September 2026.
BRENDA PREE, MMC
CITY CLERK