City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager; City Attorney
Report Type: ACTION ITEMS
Lead Department: City Attorney
Meeting Date: October 26, 2026
Report #:2610-6855
TITLE
Adoption of a Temporary Ordinance Imposing a Moratorium on the Establishment of New or Expanded Detention and Custodial Facilities within Palo Alto City Limits
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a temporary ordinance imposing a moratorium on the establishment of any new or expanded detention and custodial facilities within Palo Alto city limits.
BACKGROUND
On March 17, 2025, the City Council adopted Resolution 10221, reaffirming the Council’s commitment to the Palo Alto Values as embodied in its previously adopted values and adopted legislative guidelines, including policies that reflect:
• Support for transparent government and the rule of law, including respect for court decisions;
• 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; • Support measures that protect immigrants from unlawful or inhumane deportation efforts; and
• 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 [sic].
In February 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its intention to develop more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.1 Since that pronouncement, ICE has taken steps to establish two immigration processing and detention facilities in the Bay Area—one in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Gilroy and another in a shuttered federal correctional facility in Dublin in Alameda County.
Santa Clara County and the State of California sued ICE and other federal government agencies and officials to block the proposed ICE detention facility near Gilroy. 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. On September 11, 2026, the United States District Court granted a preliminary injunction pausing development activities of that facility.2 The City’s support of Santa Clara County’s lawsuit is consistent with the policies articulated in Council Resolution 10221.
The proposed ordinance furthers this policy by imposing a temporary moratorium on new or expanded detention facilities within Palo Alto city limits.
ANALYSIS
The City’s Current Zoning Ordinance
The City‘s zoning ordinance does not contain a land use classification for detention and custodial facilities. While this generally means that such a use would not be permitted in any of the City’s zoning districts, it is possible that the owner/occupant of privately-owned property could attempt to establish a detention or custodial facility through a use permit application.
Separately, the owner/occupant of property located in a public facilities zoning district (PF) could attempt to establish a detention or custodial facility as principally permitted use because the zoning ordinance allows “[a]ll facilities owned or leased, and operated or used, by the City of Palo Alto, the County of Santa Clara, the State of California, the government of the United States, the Palo Alto Unified School District, or any other governmental agency, or leased by any such agency to another party” in the PF zoning district. The vast majority of PF-zoned parcels are owned by either the City, Palo Alto Unified School District, the County of Santa Clara, and the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (Caltrain), and such a scenario is unlikely considering the size, location, or the existing uses of those parcels.
Proposed Ordinance
The proposed ordinance would remove any ambiguity in the above scenarios by imposing a one-year moratorium on the establishment or expansion of any detention and custodial facilities, as well as any change in land use that would result in a detention and custodial 1 ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative. “ICE plans to activate all facilities by November 30, 2026, ensuring the timely expansion of detention capacity,” February 13, 2026. 2 https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/pi-order_0.pdf facility.
The proposed ordinance defines “detention and custodial facility” as:
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 or 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.
This definition was formulated based on a review of similar moratoria adopted by the cities of San Jose, Los Altos, and Gilroy and by San Mateo and Monterey counties.
Since the moratorium is forward-looking, it would not apply to existing custodial facilities such as the holding areas in the Public Safety Building or the Superior Court building.
The moratorium expires on its own terms unless extended by the Council. In addition to the pending litigation between Santa Clara County and ICE, a number of new State laws addressing ICE operation have been recently enacted, or are pending, and may affect the need for additional City regulations. Staff will continue to monitor this issue and return to the Council with further recommendations before the moratorium expires.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The proposed ordinance would not result in any fiscal or resource impacts to the City.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Staff from the City Attorney’s Office met with staff from Representative Sam Liccardo’s office as well as staff from the Immigrant Protection and Empowerment Network, which is part of the Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment, a nonprofit based in Santa Clara County.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), because this ordinance will not have 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.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on the Establishment of Detention and Custodial Facilities
APPROVED BY:
Christopher Jensen, City Attorney