Stop the AI data centers in Gilroy
Stop the AI data centers in Gilroy
The Issue
We, the undersigned, demand the City of Gilroy immediately rescind their approval of the Amazon Data Center, promptly ceasing any/all construction, while also adopting a resolution that commits the city will never approve development of a data center within city limits.
Recognizing Gilroy's rich agricultural history, beautiful parks, and California's fragile ecosystem it is our responsibility to ensure that the town we love can be enjoyed for generations to come without risks of environmental pollution that would degrade the quality of life.
On Thursday, July 3, 2025, outside of a public City Council meeting and while neighbors were gearing up for Independence Day weekend, Gilroy's Community Development Director Sharon Goei approved the proposal made by Noel Yetter, a Senior Technical Infrastructure Program Manager located in Seattle, WA, for Amazon Web Services to build an Amazon Data Center to be located at 8050 Camino Arroyo. In Ms. Goei's correspondence with Yetter, it is stated that the permit application request was initially received on November 13, 2020, revised on February 16, 2021 and April 11, 2022, with a final version designed in collaboration with "City of Gilroy staff" submitted on February, 24, 2023.
The fifty-six acre plot of land at 8050 Camino Arroyo, directly east of US-101, is in close proximity to active farmland, Gilroy's outdoor outlet shopping mall, and health centers, including Valley Health and Kaiser Permanente medical offices.
The proposed center includes 3 buildings, 2 for the data center itself and 1 as a security building, totaling 438,500 square feet.
While Gilroy has continued to progress pass our agricultural roots, becoming a bedroom community for the hard workers that have made Silicon Valley successful, there is continued concern from citizens about the long term impacts of this project, including:
- Job sustainability
- Environmental impacts
- Quality of life impacts
On Tuesday, December 30, in the Gilroy CA Community Page on Facebook, a discussion began once again expressing worry for the center, initially drawing participation from 20+ citizens. Council Member Terence Fugazzi participated in the thread, dismissing his constituent's valid concerns in a jeering manner.
Today, January 1, 2026, 40+ users are actively engaged in the conversation, adding their own thoughts paired with articles from traditional news outlets, scholarly journals, and testimony from individuals in other areas who live near data centers. At this time no representatives of Gilroy government have responded to calls for comments**.
Members of the community of Gilroy are concerned about the impacts of the proposed Amazon data center, and are calling for the project to be terminated immediately. We are also demanding that there shall not be any data centers established in our community—Amazon or otherwise—now or ever.
References:
- https://www.cityofgilroy.org/1019/Amazon-Data-Center | City of Gilroy Community Development/Planning Project
- https://www.cityofgilroy.org/DocumentCenter/View/16514/AS-20-23-Architectural-Site-Approval7325 | E-mail correspondence/approval, July 3, 2025
- https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai-data-center-job-creation-48038b67 | The Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2025
- https://www.iaff.org/news/data-centers-are-booming-and-fire-fighters-must-adapt-to-new-challenges/ | International Association of Firefighters, March 13, 2025
- https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption | Environmental and Energy Study Institute, June 25, 2025
- https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/sites/stpp/files/2025-07/stpp-data-centers-2025.pdf | University of Michigan, July 2025
- https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine/articles/land-water-impacts-data-centers/ | Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, October 17, 2025
- https://hbr.org/2025/11/mitigating-the-public-health-impacts-of-ai-data-centers | Harvard Business Institute, November 5, 2025
*Minor adjustments for grammar and clarity have been made to this petition since originally posting, including references for City of Gilroy activity and references cited for points of concern.
**Initial calls to comment are specific to social media forums where some but not all of Gilroy City Council are members. On 1/1/2026 all City Council representatives were automatically notified of the petition by Change.org
2,247
The Issue
We, the undersigned, demand the City of Gilroy immediately rescind their approval of the Amazon Data Center, promptly ceasing any/all construction, while also adopting a resolution that commits the city will never approve development of a data center within city limits.
Recognizing Gilroy's rich agricultural history, beautiful parks, and California's fragile ecosystem it is our responsibility to ensure that the town we love can be enjoyed for generations to come without risks of environmental pollution that would degrade the quality of life.
On Thursday, July 3, 2025, outside of a public City Council meeting and while neighbors were gearing up for Independence Day weekend, Gilroy's Community Development Director Sharon Goei approved the proposal made by Noel Yetter, a Senior Technical Infrastructure Program Manager located in Seattle, WA, for Amazon Web Services to build an Amazon Data Center to be located at 8050 Camino Arroyo. In Ms. Goei's correspondence with Yetter, it is stated that the permit application request was initially received on November 13, 2020, revised on February 16, 2021 and April 11, 2022, with a final version designed in collaboration with "City of Gilroy staff" submitted on February, 24, 2023.
The fifty-six acre plot of land at 8050 Camino Arroyo, directly east of US-101, is in close proximity to active farmland, Gilroy's outdoor outlet shopping mall, and health centers, including Valley Health and Kaiser Permanente medical offices.
The proposed center includes 3 buildings, 2 for the data center itself and 1 as a security building, totaling 438,500 square feet.
While Gilroy has continued to progress pass our agricultural roots, becoming a bedroom community for the hard workers that have made Silicon Valley successful, there is continued concern from citizens about the long term impacts of this project, including:
- Job sustainability
- Environmental impacts
- Quality of life impacts
On Tuesday, December 30, in the Gilroy CA Community Page on Facebook, a discussion began once again expressing worry for the center, initially drawing participation from 20+ citizens. Council Member Terence Fugazzi participated in the thread, dismissing his constituent's valid concerns in a jeering manner.
Today, January 1, 2026, 40+ users are actively engaged in the conversation, adding their own thoughts paired with articles from traditional news outlets, scholarly journals, and testimony from individuals in other areas who live near data centers. At this time no representatives of Gilroy government have responded to calls for comments**.
Members of the community of Gilroy are concerned about the impacts of the proposed Amazon data center, and are calling for the project to be terminated immediately. We are also demanding that there shall not be any data centers established in our community—Amazon or otherwise—now or ever.
References:
- https://www.cityofgilroy.org/1019/Amazon-Data-Center | City of Gilroy Community Development/Planning Project
- https://www.cityofgilroy.org/DocumentCenter/View/16514/AS-20-23-Architectural-Site-Approval7325 | E-mail correspondence/approval, July 3, 2025
- https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai-data-center-job-creation-48038b67 | The Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2025
- https://www.iaff.org/news/data-centers-are-booming-and-fire-fighters-must-adapt-to-new-challenges/ | International Association of Firefighters, March 13, 2025
- https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption | Environmental and Energy Study Institute, June 25, 2025
- https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/sites/stpp/files/2025-07/stpp-data-centers-2025.pdf | University of Michigan, July 2025
- https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine/articles/land-water-impacts-data-centers/ | Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, October 17, 2025
- https://hbr.org/2025/11/mitigating-the-public-health-impacts-of-ai-data-centers | Harvard Business Institute, November 5, 2025
*Minor adjustments for grammar and clarity have been made to this petition since originally posting, including references for City of Gilroy activity and references cited for points of concern.
**Initial calls to comment are specific to social media forums where some but not all of Gilroy City Council are members. On 1/1/2026 all City Council representatives were automatically notified of the petition by Change.org
2,247
The Decision Makers
Supporter Voices
Petition created on January 1, 2026