Oakley Unanimously Halts All New Data Center Applications

The Oakley City Council moved swiftly Tuesday night to impose an emergency moratorium on data center development, responding to intense community opposition that erupted last month over a proposed facility. The unanimous urgency ordinance — effective immediately — buys the city time to write permanent rules for an industry it has no regulations to evaluate, while sobering presentations on BART's fiscal cliff and Delta water threats underscored the mounting pressures facing this East Contra Costa County community.

• Council adopts urgency ordinance banning all new data center applications, effective immediately, with plans to extend the moratorium up to one year at the May 12 meeting

• BART warns of $350–$400M annual deficit that could close all East County stations, slash 70% of service, and trigger 1,200 layoffs if a regional ballot measure fails

• Oakley councilmembers put BART on notice: closing East County stations while residents keep paying BART taxes would kill any future voter support

• Delta Conveyance Project cost estimates balloon to $60–$100 billion while key Kern County backers slash contributions by 97%

• Diablo Water District flags new state turf law requiring Oakley to audit and convert non-functional landscaping at public facilities by January 2027

The biggest action of the night came on agenda item 6.1, where the council unanimously adopted an urgency ordinance imposing an immediate 45-day moratorium on the processing and approval of all new data center land use applications within city limits.