Fresno Council to Vote on 10-Year Data Center Ban Despite Mayor’s Claim They’re Already Illegal

Fresno City Council votes Thursday on a 10-year ban on data centers — facilities that can consume up to five million gallons of water per day.

Councilmember Nick Richardson is sponsoring the resolution. Mayor Jerry Dyer signed on as co-sponsor Wednesday.

The timing raises a question: Dyer and Planning Director Jennifer Clark both say data centers aren’t allowed in Fresno right now. So what’s the ban for?

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Richardson told nonprofit news site Fresnoland the city code gives the planning director “discretion” to approve uses not explicitly listed. The resolution would close that loophole.

“There is a portion in there [in the city’s planning codebook] that says at the planning director’s discretion, the planning director can decide to allow a use that is not otherwise used,” Richardson said.

The move follows months of scrutiny over whether the Southeast Development Area Plan — a proposed mega-development zoning hundreds of acres for “flexible research and advanced manufacturing” — could open the door to data centers.

“The fact is, it’s not about advanced research; it’s about data centers,” District 3 Councilmember Miguel Arias said at an Aug. 19 Planning Commission meeting on SEDA. “We know it, you know it; there is no other demand.”

Clark responded at that meeting that data centers aren’t currently allowed in Fresno.

Dyer issued a two-page statement Wednesday saying the same thing: “data centers are not permitted anywhere in the City of Fresno.” He added that city staff is “already drafting” code to prohibit them.

If they’re already drafting a ban and the planning director says they’re not allowed, what does Thursday’s vote actually do?

Richardson’s resolution would amend the development code to “affirmatively prohibit data centers within the City of Fresno so that they cannot be allowed pursuant to a Director’s determination.”

Translation: it removes the planning director’s discretion entirely.

The Breakdown

• Data centers house IT infrastructure for applications and services. Large facilities can consume up to five million gallons of water per day — equivalent to a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
• Richardson cited “hard access to water” as his reason for the ban.
• Concerns grew after the SEDA plan proposed zoning for “flexible research and advanced manufacturing” in southeast Fresno. Arias said publicly that means data centers, despite the label.
• Dyer’s statement said data centers “are not an appropriate land use for the City of Fresno under current technologies.”
• Recent activity in the Central Valley: Ameresco, Inc. announced plans in September 2025 for a 100-megawatt AI data center at Naval Air Station Lemoore. Tulare County’s Board of Supervisors approved a temporary moratorium on data centers last month after public pushback. Questions remain about whether High Speed Rail’s private investment deal could include data centers.

What This Means for You

You’re watching two things at once. One: whether the council votes to close a loophole that could theoretically let data centers in through director approval. Two: whether the administration’s claim that they’re “already drafting” a ban means Thursday’s vote is redundant — or whether it means the loophole was real enough to require a council vote to actually close it.

Either way, this vote decides whether Fresno spends the next decade without facilities that use as much water as a small town. In a region where “hard access to water” is Richardson’s stated reason for the ban, that’s a resource-allocation decision you’re entitled to see your council make in public, not quietly at a planning director’s desk.

What You Can Do

The council votes Thursday. Meeting details and public comment procedures are available on the City of Fresno’s website.

What to Watch

If data centers aren’t allowed and staff is already drafting a ban, why does this resolution exist? The fact that the mayor co-sponsored it suggests someone thought the loophole was real. Watch whether the vote closes it, or whether the administration’s “already drafting” language means this is symbolic.

Watch the SEDA plan. Arias said the “flexible research and advanced manufacturing” language is cover for data centers. If this ban passes and SEDA still moves forward with that zoning language, you’ll know whether the ban actually covers what the council says it does — or whether the zoning leaves room for interpretation later.

One University of Pennsylvania study prepared for Next 10 suggested Fresno and the Central Valley could become “viable computational hubs” due to solar energy and broadband infrastructure. That’s the sales pitch. The resource question is whether a facility using five million gallons of water per day — in a region where water is already contested — benefits Fresno more than housing, actual manufacturing, or agriculture on the same land.

Dyer’s statement said decisions “must provide the greatest possible benefit to Fresno residents.” The council vote tells you whether they’re willing to rule out data centers to make that happen, or whether the door stays cracked.