Monday, 5/19/2025 Update:

I've had the chance to speak up at a recent City Council meeting, met with several council members and appreciate the insights and positions they have shared. I've learned quite a bit over the last 12 days. Writing this petition was to stand against the planning of large intrusive data centers popping up in Santa Clara and truly design and build around people. What I read in Silicon Valley Voice, "The new proposal would replace much of the office and retail space with light industrial space that would host data centers, " and then reading of Alviso's Journey from entertainment district to data center hub, here​, here and here: and large data centers behind Bracher Park and Scott/Monroe was the catalyst for this petition. With that, our council member shared that our data centers come in various sizes and the city won't be able to provide power to every data center that wants to come in, so what would go into the Related Santa Clara project is a 2-story data center (page 55 & 57) and not the 4 story, 486,000 square feet data centers next to our parks and behind our homes. This zoning code and land use change would attract businesses to come in and data centers help with the technology advancements we see in our communities today. Our communities, though will see two more approved large data centers in the next few years, 2305 Bowers and 1231 Comstock. If it helps, the 2305 Bowers Ave building has some design aesthetics that look less sterile than other established data centers.

Another major takeaway from this process was our council members welcome and encouragement to speak up and to continue to be civically engaged. I loved serving on our Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee in the past and appreciated all the learning that came out of this process. If you have community questions, I hope you email and connect with your council member or me. :)

With this, I'll close the petition and send heartfelt Thank Yous for reading and/or supporting this petition. 

-Thanh

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As a resident of Santa Clara, I am setting up this petition to express my strong opposition to the continued development of data centers within our city. While I understand the technological advancements that drive the need for such facilities, I believe that their proliferation in Santa Clara comes at a significant cost to the well-being, character, and future of our community. Please sign this petition to tell City Council to not approve a General Plan Amendment (to permit light industrial uses on Parcels),to deny a Zoning Ordinance Amendment to MC-CP Zoning (to permit light industrial uses on Parcels 1 & 2) and to deny the MCP Amendment (new Scheme C Variant Supplemental Chapter) for the Related Santa Clara / City Place project.

I urge you to carefully consider the following critical points as you evaluate future proposals for Related Santa Clara / City Place and data center development:

·         Data centers create sterile environments, devoid of life and public interaction. Designing spaces that actively exclude community engagement does not serve the best interests of Santa Clara. Our city needs vibrant spaces that foster community connections, support healthy aging, and encourage active lifestyles for all residents. Data centers offer no such benefit; they are essentially closed boxes that contribute nothing to the social fabric of our neighborhoods.

·         Locating industrial uses with potential hazards near sensitive receptors is unacceptable. The General Plan (page 90) itself acknowledges that light industrial uses "may be noxious or include hazardous materials and may negatively impact sensitive receptors, like children and the elderly." Planning such facilities next to parks, where our children gather and play, is a direct contradiction of our community's responsibility to protect its most vulnerable members.

·        The pattern of data centers in Santa Clara raises serious environmental justice concerns. A significant concentration is found in the area between Highway 101 and the Caltrain tracks, which is documented as a "Community of Concern" and was predominantly Hispanic according to the 2010 census. This suggests a disproportionate distribution of environmental burdens onto specific segments of our population. Historically, these facilities in Santa Clara have been located in areas designated for Light Industrial use, which tragically often overlap with areas identified in our own Bicycle Master Plan (Figure 6) as "Communities of Concern."  Map of comprehensive listing of data centers here (https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/california/santa-clara/ or home-made map overlayed with census here. 

·         Data centers undermine our commitment to smart growth and housing. Our General Plan clearly prioritizes the development of more housing along Tasman Drive (Section 5.2.3, Priority Development Areas), accompanied by the amenities and services necessary to support a pedestrian-friendly environment with robust transit options. Data centers directly contradict this vision, occupying valuable land that could otherwise be used for much-needed housing and community-serving businesses.

·         Data centers erode the unique character of our neighborhoods. The General Plan explicitly aims to "Preserve the unique character and identity of neighborhoods through community-initiated neighborhood planning and design elements incorporated in new development" (Section 5.3.1-P1). The monolithic and isolated nature of data centers offers no opportunity for community input or the incorporation of design elements that reflect the distinct identities of our neighborhoods.

Beyond these local impacts, I believe we must also consider the broader environmental and economic consequences:

·         Data centers place a significant burden on our electricity ratepayers. The immense energy demands of these facilities can lead to increased costs for all electricity consumers in our region. (Source)

·         The environmental and health costs of data centers are alarming. Recent research from the California Institute of Technology and UC Riverside indicates that by 2030, data centers in California could contribute to 1,300 premature deaths and $20 billion in health care costs, with greenhouse gas emissions rivaling those of all cars in the state. Furthermore, a Morgan Stanley report last fall projected that the global data center industry could produce 40% of annual U.S. emissions within five years. These are staggering figures that cannot be ignored. (Source and Source)

Santa Clara has the opportunity to prioritize development that truly benefits all its residents – development that fosters community, provides housing, respects our neighborhoods, and safeguards our environment and health. I urge our City Council to stand with the community and reject further data center development in Santa Clara. Let's work together to build a city that fosters vibrant communities and allows people to thrive, instead of dedicating valuable space to inert buildings and servers

Sincerely,

Thanh Do, District 3, a Concerned Resident of Santa Clara

• Project Listing: https://www.santaclaraca.gov/Home/Components/BusinessDirectory/BusinessDirectory/216/2495
• Silicon Valley Voice Article: https://www.svvoice.com/related-proposes-displacing-retail-and-office-space-in-favor-of-data-centers/