Perris council votes unanimously to start a citywide data center ban

The Riverside Record: The June 9 motion sends a citywide prohibition to the planning commission for a recommendation, then back to the council for final approval, so the ban is not yet law. Staff told the council the city's code currently neither defines nor regulates data centers, and Riverside County has no large-scale facilities — typically 250,000 square feet and up — today. The operating numbers drove the case: facilities drawing 20MW to 100MW of power and anywhere from 200,000 gallons to millions of gallons of water daily, with SCE and Eastern Municipal Water District both saying service is possible only with early coordination and, on the water side, a recycling system. Staff also noted data centers create fewer jobs than warehouses, though higher-paying ones, with higher property tax value from the equipment inside. Residents framed the vote through the city's warehouse experience: Perris already absorbed one logistics buildout's externalities and isn't volunteering for the next. Councilmember David Starr Rabb requested the study in January.