***NOT YET APPROVED***
1 Ordinance No. _____
An Ordinance of the City of Palo Alto Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on the Establishment of Detention and Custodial Facilities
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1. Findings and Declarations. The City Council finds and declares as follows:
A. The United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) “ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative” directive dated February 13, 2026, outlined the acquisition and development of eight large-scale detention centers, sixteen processing sites, and the acquisition of ten turnkey facilities; the directive asserted that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) intended to have all facilities active by November 30, 2026; and
B. ICE has stated that California detention centers are “crucial to ICE’s detention network on the West Coast,” and the DHS recently acquired two private prison facilities in Otay Mesa and California City, California from CoreCivic, a private corporation that contracts with government agencies to operate correctional facilities; and C. ICE leased private property at 7240 Holsclaw Road in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Gilroy, California (“Holsclaw Property”) for the purpose of operating an immigrant detention facility; and
D. Santa Clara County and the State of California sued ICE and other federal government agencies and officials to block the proposed ICE detention facility on the Holsclaw Property; and
E. The City of Palo Alto was one of twenty-six Bay Area cities/counties that signed onto an amicus brief in support of Santa Clara County’s lawsuit; and F. On September 11, 2026, the United States District Court granted a preliminary injunction ordering ICE to pause construction, demolition, and development activities at the Holsclaw Property due to failing to engage in the preparation of an environmental impact review on the plans; and
G. Several other jurisdictions across the United States have filed lawsuits challenging the construction of detention and custodial facilities because the proposed facilities would deplete the water supply and strain public resources such as sewage and wastewater needs; and
H. Reports from the California Attorney General have found that detention and custodial facilities in California were overcrowded, failed to provide adequate medical care, and often failed to meet applicable federal detention standards which are a detriment to detainee’s health; and
***NOT YET APPROVED***
2 I. Detention and custodial facilities can also impact local traffic including from visitors to detainees, and strain services responding to large demonstrations and public gatherings around these facilities which may require local traffic management, crowd management, or emergency response resources; and
J. Local government agencies have not been afforded the opportunity to evaluate issues surrounding detention and custodial facilities and provide input, forcing those agencies to turn to litigation after development activity was already underway; and K. On March 17, 2025, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 10221 affirming policies that reflect:
a. Support for transparent government and the rule of law, including respect for court decisions;
b. Support for climate action and adaptation, environmental justice, natural environment protection, local authority to address climate change and collaboration regionally, nationally and internationally to accomplish these goals; c. Support measures that protect immigrants from unlawful or inhumane deportation efforts; and
d. Consistent with the Council priority to be a place of belonging for all, foster a diverse and inclusive community and support equity and racial justice; and L. The City of Palo Alto’s zoning code does not specifically define “detention and custodial facility” as a land use, but a party seeking to develop a detention and custodial facility on privately-owned property could seek approval to operate a detention and custodial facility in the city; and
M. The City of Palo Alto’s zoning code permits all facilities owned or leased, and operated or used, by the government of the United States on properties zoned as “Public Facility”; and
N. Locating a detention and custodial facility on a Public Facilities zoned property or on any other zoning district within Palo Alto may result in land use and environmental impacts that are detrimental to the public health, safety, and general welfare, or inconsistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan; and
O. A temporary moratorium on the establishment of detention and custodial facilities, as defined below, is necessary to provide the City of Palo Alto an opportunity to analyze and determine how best to update its regulations to address the impacts of detention and custodial facilities, and evaluate appropriate locations for such uses. ***NOT YET APPROVED***
3 SECTION 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this Ordinance, a “detention and custodial facility” means a temporary or permanent building, structure, set of buildings, or portions thereof operated by any entity to detain, confine, process, or house persons in custody under process of law, whether on a temporary, short-term, overnight, or longer-term basis. A detention and custodial facility includes, but is not limited to, a jail, prison, detention center, detention facility, holding facility, confinement facility, correctional facility, civil detention facility, immigration detention facility, juvenile detention facility, temporary holding facility, processing facility, or other substantially similar use, regardless of the name or terminology used to describe the facility.
SECTION 3. Moratorium Imposed. A one-year temporary moratorium is hereby established and imposed on the filing, acceptance, processing, or approvals of applications for the establishment of any new or expanded detention and custodial facility on private and public property, or changes in use that would result in the same, to the extent permitted under state and federal law.
SECTION 4. Consistent with its authority under section 18.80.090 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, the City Council hereby finds that the public health, safety, and welfare of the City of Palo Alto warrant the establishment of this temporary moratorium, to the extent permitted under state and federal law, based upon the following facts and circumstances:
A. The proliferation of detention and custodial facilities across the nation with limited notice to, or collaboration with, local municipalities.
B. The Department of Homeland Security’s express intention of establishing a network of detention facilities in California, including the recent construction of a detention facility in Santa Clara County.
C. The severe impact that detention and custodial facilities will have on surrounding communities and local resources including water supply and wastewater treatment.
D. The documented history of poor living conditions and substandard medical care at detention and custodial facilities in California.
E. Potential incompatibility of detention and custodial facilities in Public Facilities-zoned properties and other zoning districts within Palo Alto due to potentially inadequate City infrastructure capacity to support such a facility and other impacts on City resources.
A temporary moratorium prohibiting use of private and public property as a detention and custodial facility while these issues and concerns are being examined and appropriate ***NOT YET APPROVED***
4 regulations are being developed, is necessary for the public health, safety and welfare harms described herein.
SECTION 5. This ordinance shall be in effect from the date of adoption for a period of one year, unless it is extended by the City Council.
SECTION 6. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this interim ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable by the decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words of this interim ordinance. //
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
***NOT YET APPROVED***
5 SECTION 7. The Council finds that this ordinance is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), because it can be seen with certainty that this ordinance has no possibility of having a significant effect on the environment because the moratorium preserves the status quo while the City evaluates the potential land use and environmental impacts related to detention and custodial facility land uses. Nor does this ordinance authorize any development, approve any land-use entitlement, or result in any physical change to the environment.
ADOPTED this _____ day of ___________, 2026, by the following vote:
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
____________________________ ____________________________ City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
____________________________ ____________________________ City Attorney or designee City Manager