To: The Mayor and City Council of Coachella

We, the undersigned residents of Coachella, call on the City of Coachella to enact a permanent citywide ban on data centers through a local ordinance.

The City of Coachella has approved a temporary moratorium on data centers and terminated its agreement with the proposed developer. While this is an important victory for the community, a moratorium is temporary. We are updating this petition to call for a permanent citywide ban on data centers through a local ordinance.

Coachella is already one of the most polluted regions in California. We face extreme heat, poor air quality, and the ongoing impacts of the Salton Sea, where toxic dust contributes to high rates of asthma and respiratory illness. Our community is also dealing with chromium 6 in our water, meaning residents are exposed to contaminated drinking water every day.

Bringing data centers here will only add to this burden. These facilities require massive amounts of electricity and water and generate significant heat, worsening conditions in an already vulnerable desert environment.

We are also concerned about how this project is being prioritized. At a time when the City needs to invest in critical infrastructure, housing, and community-serving projects, resources are instead being directed toward supporting data center development. The City continues to face challenges in meeting basic needs like housing and other community-serving development, yet a new municipal utility is being built in largely undeveloped areas to support data centers. This raises serious concerns about the City’s priorities.

The City has already entered into a Public-Private Partnership agreement tied to this project and has voted on this effort multiple times. Public funds, including at least $500,000, have already been committed, and this project will likely require even more public investment over time.
We are calling on the City Council to immediately ban all data center development in Coachella. Our community should not take on additional environmental and financial risk for projects we do not support.

Sincerely,
Vicente Zamora and Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez
More Than Politics CV