Knock LA

On Wednesday, August 19, the City of Adelanto Planning Commission held a public hearing to consider a “text-only” amendment to the zoning section of the Adelanto Municipal Code. Such an amendment would not automatically translate into a proposed project, according to the meeting agenda. If adopted, the amendment would, along with laying rhetorical groundwork for specific manufacturing industries such as semi-chip conductors, natural gas, and drones, allow data centers to be built within the city. 

The meeting took a heated turn as residents criticized the proposed amendment and warned of the consequences that data centers in particular could have for the Adelanto community. Although the text stated that the ordinance would not immediately lead to the construction of data centers, residents condemned the legal framework that such an ordinance would provide for future projects. 

“When I was living in Old Adelanto, I would turn on the water and it would be brown. If we have issues like this right now, why would you consider something like this?” said resident Guadelupe Ochoa in regard to the proposed amendment. “You want the public’s opinion about it? We don’t even want you to think about it.”

Chris Waggener, chair of the Adelanto Planning Commission, defended the ordinance during the meeting. He said the commission’s previous attempts to attract commerce into the city had failed. Waggener also claimed that Adelanto was operating with greater transparency than neighboring cities.

“In an adjoining city, we have a data center. They call it something else. They call it a large warehouse with electronic components,” Waggener said during the meeting, taking great care to avoid stating the municipality’s name. “Right here in your own valley, this is happening.” 

Waggener also argued that data centers would not place additional strain on the electrical grid or increase residents’ electricity costs.

“You want to talk about electricity bills? I’m gonna be honest. They suck. They suck because [the companies are] a monopoly,” he said to the meeting participants. “What do data centers bring? They do bring their own electricity.”

Data centers have become a source of bitter contention across the country, with community advocates warning about the environmental impacts of their operations and questioning their economic benefits. As the rapidly growing use of AI forces data centers to increase their productivity, facilities are consuming large amounts of water to cool heat-intensive equipment. Large data centers can use up to five million gallons of fresh water per day, equivalent to the water usage of a town of 50,000 people. More specifically, a single, 100-word AI response requires about one bottle, or 500 milliliters, of water to produce. When multiplied by the millions and sometimes billions of people inputting prompts into AI bots, that means hundreds of millions of liters of water are necessary to cool the equipment involved in information generation. 

As residents noted during public comment in the August 19 meeting, Adelanto, an Inland Empire city in the middle of the Mojave Desert, is highly susceptible to droughts. In the heat of the day, summer temperatures can reach beyond 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The city already implements heavy restrictions on water usage. These restrictions include the prohibition of any fountains or other water features unless they have re-circulating systems, a ban on washing down any solid surfaces such as sidewalks, and no outdoor landscape watering on Mondays and weekends. 

According to a write-up by the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ), Adelanto’s drinking water is sourced from the Mojave River groundwater basin, which is currently in severe overdraft. In addition, AI data centers would be competing with residents for ground water especially during the scorching summer months, when cooling processing chips becomes even more difficult. 

Adelanto is already home to one of the most infamous immigrant detention centers in the nation. The Adelanto ICE Processing Center and Desert View Annex, operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group, are notorious for their human rights violations, including medical neglect of detainees, contaminated water, and withholding of visitation rights. The introduction of data centers into the Adelanto economy would mean the arrival of another morally compromised industry in a city whose name has already become synonymous with a detention center commonly referred to as the worst in the country. 

Community members did not hold back when it came to voicing their concerns for the potential zoning change. One resident who stated they were an EPA-certified HVAC specialist dug into the myth that data centers create more jobs for the communities they are constructed in. 

“This will only create temporary jobs,” the resident said during public comment. “This would set us back. This is regressive.” 

The same resident traded rhetorical blows with Commission Chair Waggener as they went back and forth over the commissioner’s suspected personal gains from implementing a change in zoning. 

“I want to understand why you’re being so combative,” the resident said to Waggener after emphasizing that many community members are in opposition to the amendment and what it stands for. Waggener attempted to respond with claims that there could potentially be positive outcomes from projects that come out of this zoning change. 

“It’s very beneficial to our city, the other items that are in there,” Waggener said, regarding the other manufacturing prospects that would be allowed if the zoning amendment were approved.

The meeting was so well-attended by community members that many had to stand as seating quickly ran out. A video posted to Instagram by Victor Valley News showed the meeting room packed with people hoping to provide public comment, with many participants joining over Zoom as well. There were several moments where Commission Chair Waggener was interrupted by attendees speaking out, demanding that the proposed amendment be scrapped immediately. At one point, tensions nearly boiled over as participants refused to let Waggener get a word in and peppered him with questions. 

“Now’s not the time to bring up all these individual questions,” Waggener said, as he raised his voice over shouting community members. “I can end this meeting and we can all go home.” 

Despite Waggener’s adamant support of the proposal, community members saw their wishes come to fruition. As of August 25, the Adelanto Planning Commission voted 3-2 to reject the zoning amendment in an advisory vote. A rejection by the Planning Commission sends the message that the proposal is not fit to be incorporated into the city’s Municipal Code. The next and final stage of the process requires a vote from Adelanto City Council. At this time, no date has been set for the item to be reviewed.

Rosalind Jones (she/they) is a queer, Los Angeles-based writer and community organizer. She is a contributor for the online publication Knock LA, a founding member of the social justice organization Community Solidarity Project, and authors a Substack titled ‘Another World is Inevitable’. Rosalind holds a BA in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College and a certification in Creative Writing from the UCLA Extension.