1 of 5 October 6, 2026, Item #4
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
CONTACT:
SUBJECT:
Summary:
AGENDA REPORT CityofPoway
October 6, 2026
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
Carrie Gallagher, City Clerk ~
Carrie Gallagher, City Clerk
(858) 668-4530 or [email protected]
CITY COUNCIL
Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No. 883 entitled "An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Poway, California, Amending Title 17 (Zoning) of the Municipal Code to Prohibit Al Data Centers in All Zones"
The introduction and first reading of the above-entitled Ordinance was approved at a Regular City Council Meeting on September 15, 2026. There were no speakers.
The Ordinance is now presented for second reading and adoption by title only.
Vote at first reading:
Recommended Action:
AYES:
NOES:
DE HOFF, EDMONDSON, PIKUS, MAEDA, VAUS
NONE
ABSTAINED: NONE
ABSENT: NONE
DISQUALIFIED: NONE
It is recommended the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 883.
Environmental Review:
None.
Fiscal Impact:
None.
2 of 5 October 6, 2026, Item #4
Public Notification:
A Notice of Public Hearing was published in the San Diego Union Tribune on Thursday, September 3, 2026. An ordinance summary notice was published in the Poway News Chieftain on Thursday, September 24, 2026. A certified copy of this Ordinance will also be posted in the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with Government Code section 36933.
Attachments:
A. Ordinance No. 883
Tracy Stevens
Assistant City Manager
Reviewed By:
Alan Fenstermacher
City Attorney
3 of 5 October 6, 2026, Item #4
ORDINANCE NO. 883
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
POWAY, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING TITLE 17 (ZONING) OF THE
MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROHIBIT Al DATA CENTERS IN ALL
ZONES
WHEREAS, the City of Poway wishes to protect and preserve the public safety, health, welfare, resources, and quality of development throughout the City through effective land use and planning;
WHEREAS, Article XI, § 7 of the California Constitution empowers the City to enact and enforce ordinances regulating conditions that may be public nuisances or health hazards, or that promote social, economic, or aesthetic considerations;
WHEREAS, the City has become aware of the proliferation of large, high volume data centers serving offsite, third party artificial intelligence ("Al") companies and users, and potential negative impacts of such uses such as significant water and electricity use, strain on water and electricity infrastructure, adverse impact on utility rates, air quality impacts, fire risk, and lack of long term jobs and economic growth provided when compared to traditional industrial, manufacturing and office uses;
WHEREAS, the City Council's purpose in adopting this ordinance is to establish a clear, permanent land use policy that Al data centers are not an allowed land use anywhere within the City, thereby providing certainty to residents, businesses, and property owners about long-term development expectations;
WHEREAS, on September 15, 2026, the City adopted Resolution No. 26-049 approving a specific plan amendment to prohibit the development of "Al data center(s)" in the South Poway Specific Plan;
WHEREAS, currently, data center uses are not a specifically designated use within the Zoning Code;
WHEREAS, after further study, the City wishes to make third party, Al data centers a prohibited use throughout the entire City; and
WHEREAS, the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") does not apply to this ordinance because it is not a "project" and has no potential to result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment. (Cal. Pub. Res. Code§ 21065; 14 Cal.
Code Regs. § 15378.) Further, this Ordinance is exempt from CEQA because there is no possibility that this Ordinance or its implementation would have a significant negative effect on the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs.§ 15061 (b)(3));
WHEREAS, on September 15, 2026, this Ordinance was introduced for first reading, and then considered for adoption after second reading on October 6, 2026; and WHEREAS, the City Council has read and considered the staff report for the proposed Ordinance and has considered other evidence presented at the public hearing.
ATTACHMENT A
4 of 5 October 6, 2026, Item #4
Ordinance No. 883
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POWAY DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: The above recitations are true and correct.
SECTION 2: Section 17.02.070 (Prohibited Land Uses) is hereby added to Chapter
17.02 (General Provisions) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Poway Municipal Code and reads as follows:
Unless preempted by federal or state law, it is unlawful for any person to construct, operate, reconstruct or use real property for an Al Data Center in any zone in the City. Any violation of this section shall constitute a violation of this Code and shall be subject to the enforcement provisions, remedies, and penalties set forth in Chapter 17 .54.
SECTION 3: Section 17.04.095 (Al data center) is hereby added to Chapter 17.04 (Definitions) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Poway Municipal Code and reads as follows:
"Al Data Center" shall mean a use that has the principal purpose of housing computer servers that utilize high-density clusters of specialized accelerators like Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and any associated data storage systems, for third party entities that store, process, train, or support artificial intelligence applications. The defined term Al Data Center shall not include any data storage use ancillary to a different principal use on the same property as the data center/storage use. Al Data Center also does not include edge data centers, micro data centers, or traditional on-premises server rooms/data closets that utilize Central Processing Units (CPUs).
SECTION 4: The proposed Municipal Code amendment has been reviewed with respect to the applicability of the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code section 21000 et seq.) ("CEQA"). The City Council has determined that the text amendment does not have the potential for creating a significant effect on the environment and is therefore exempt from further review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061 (b)(3), because it can be seen with certainty that adoption of the Ordinance has no possibility of having a significant effect on the environment. The proposed amendment is not a "project" and has no potential to result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment. (Cal. Pub. Res.
Code§ 21065; 14 Cal. Code Regs.§ 15378.)
SECTION 5: If any section, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, clause, phrase, and portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more portions may be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days after its adoption.
CERTIFICATION/PUBLICATION: The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this Ordinance and cause it or a summary of it, to be published with the names of the City Council members voting for and against the same in the Poway News Chieftain, a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Poway within fifteen (15) days after its adoption and shall post a certified
5 of 5 October 6, 2026, Item #4
Ordinance No. 883
copy of this Ordinance in the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with Government Code § 36933.
INTRODUCED AND FIRST READ at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Poway, California, held the 15th day of September, 2026, and thereafter.
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of said City Council held the 6th day of October, 2026, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAINED:
ABSENT:
DISQUALIFIED:
Steve Vaus, Mayor
ATTEST:
Carrie Gallagher, CMC, City Clerk