Amazon Builds Gilroy AI Data Center Under 45-Year Rules
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Amazon began construction last month on a 56-acre AI data center in Gilroy, California, on farmland between a Walmart Supercenter and the Gilroy Premium Outlets, catching many residents by surprise.
- The Gilroy project avoided public scrutiny by adhering to local zoning rules set 45 years ago, with the formal public comment period expiring in 2024—before data center opposition became a nationwide flashpoint.
- Rodriguez, a Gilroy resident concerned about water use in a drought-stricken region, said she was told the comment period had already lapsed when she tried to raise objections.
- AWS VP of economic development Roger Wehner defended the process as compliant with public notice and comment requirements, while Amazon said it is now engaging residents through meetings, an open house, and a planned wastewater recovery system with pipeline.
- Mayor Greg Bozzo noted that similar-scale industrial projects, including a food-distribution center, had been approved without resistance, but conceded, "We have an opportunity to change the way that we do business in Gilroy. We're adapting to the times."
- Bozzo cited Amazon's promised local benefits: increased tax revenue, construction jobs, grants to nonprofits, sponsorship of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, and a million-dollar donation toward a new fire truck.
Why it matters: The case illustrates how legacy zoning ordinances cleared a 56-acre AI data center in a small California city before residents mobilized around the issue—Gilroy's mayor now says the city must "adapt" its approval process for future projects. Amazon's promised wastewater recovery pipeline is a direct response to local drought concerns that data centers elsewhere have already intensified.
Ask SkimNews
