Amazon's $2 Billion Data Center Raises Concerns About Transparency in Small Town

A $2 billion data center built by Amazon Web Services in Gilroy, California, has raised concerns about transparency and public input. The facility was approved through a staff-level permitting process without any public hearing or vote from the City Council.

The land for the data center was purchased by AWS in 2020, and city officials negotiated with the company for years. On July 3, 2023, the community development director signed off on the project, which includes a roughly 438,500-square-foot data center with an initial phase of about 218,000 square feet.

The rules that allowed this to happen date back decades and are tied to industrial zoning in Gilroy. Mayor Greg Bozzo noted that previous industrial projects had moved through the same process without controversy, but the scale of the $2 billion facility is unprecedented.

Residents have expressed concerns about water use, fire risk, and the lack of public input. Amazon's Roger Wehner acknowledged the gap in community engagement and stated that the company has since hosted an open house for residents.

The experience in Gilroy may be a preview of what other communities will face as hyperscale data centers continue to pop up across the country. Tech giants like AWS and Google are using staff-level permitting channels, which can be found in most municipalities with legacy industrial zoning.