Developer withdraws Monterey Park data center project after community pushback – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Following months of widespread community backlash, developer HMC StratCap has withdrawn its application for a data center project at 1977 Saturn St. in Monterey Park, according to the city.

“We’re glad HMC StratCap is going to work with the city to find other land uses for their purchase,” said Monterey Park City Council member Jose Sanchez, who had been vocal in his own concerns about the proposed project. “It’s a great opportunity for everyone to think about what could go in Saturn Park.”

HMC StratCap could not be reached for comment about the withdrawal, which comes after month of defending its project as a way to revitalize a lot that had been vacant for years.

But as word spread about the plan, it ran up against a wave of pushback against data centers in general. Critics across the region and the nation say the cost of the large amounts of power they consume to fuel the artificial intelligence boom will be passed on to consumers and customers. And they also voiced concerns about the environment impacts of the large facilities.

This week, many who had been leading the opposition, called HMC’s decision an accomplishment — one of the first against data center development in the San Gabriel Valley.

“We’re over the moon — all the hard work of the community is paying off,” No Data Center Monterey Park co-founder Steven J. Kung said.

Since December, Kung and many other organizers have expanded their efforts into other cities with burgeoning technology developments, like City of Industry and El Monte. Some cities, like El Monte, have followed suit to Monterey Park’s initial 45-day data center moratorium citywide, passing their own on March 18.

The proposed center would have housed a wide range of computers and support equipment for private clients, who, according to officials, would either use the project as a place to relocate existing servers or operate new servers and expand storage capacity. Potential users could be in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing; financial services, government; healthcare, education, media and general corporate enterprises.

According to city officials, HMC StratCap had not yet communicated to the city their plans for their Saturn Park property.

On March 4, HMC StratCap representative Bryan Marsh expressed potential interest in exploring alternative land-use options at Saturn Park that all parties — HMC, the city and residents — would be content with. According to Marsh, that would be a “win-win-win” scenario. Critics said that a “‘win-win-win’” scenario meant alternatives to a data center, such as housing.

But according to SGV Progressive Action Organizer Andrew Yip, like Kung and many others who saw HMC’s withdrawal as a victory, the fight against data center development is not over.

Yip said that more needs to be done against data center development in Los Angeles County.

The Monterey Park City Council had approved a special election to place a measure on the June 2 ballot that could ban such centers in the city.

“We now need to pass Measure NDC to secure a permanent ban on data centers in Monterey Park and continue pushing for protections across LA County,” Yip said.