During the Aug. 11 Lake Elsinore City Council meeting, Councilmember Steve Manos asked the city attorney to draft a moratorium on data centers for the City Council to consider at its next meeting.
Manos made the request during council comments after residents again raised concerns about the proposed Elsinore Heights Industrial Project, which includes a potential data center as one of two development options.
The proposed project would cover about 61.02 acres near Camino Del Norte and Second Street. The proposal includes two options for development on about 47.7 acres of the site. One option would include four warehouse buildings, and the other option would replace one of those warehouses with a data center.
The proposed project is currently under environmental review, and no development has been approved for the site.
Manos said the proposed moratorium would not stop the current Elsinore Heights application from moving through the application process.
“That will not stop the application process for the current application,” Manos said.
Several residents spoke during the Aug. 11 meeting about concerns over the potential impacts of a data center, including water use and electricity demand.
“I have concerns about water pollution and the amount of water that such a center would take to operate,” longtime Lake Elsinore resident Jeanie Corral said. “I would simply like to request that when you go through the CEQA and the EIRs, and the recommendations that come, that you take a really fine look at all of the things that are being proposed.”
“The sales pitches from data center community relations directors may seem enticing with their offers of jobs for locals, infrastructure upgrades, philanthropic promises,” Jamie Madden said. “However, the cost to the community and environment are not worth short-term promises that turn into long-term consequences.”
“They rely on diesel backup generators to keep themselves going 24/7, because they know they drain our electrical grid,” Briana Wilcox said. “We are already experiencing rolling blackouts and brownouts in Southern California in the summer. I’m not sure that Lake Elsinore can handle a drain of hundreds of thousands of homes worth of electrical use if this proposal is accepted or even entertained.”
The comments echoed those raised by residents during the July 28 council meeting.
“This is the most number of people I’ve seen showing up to the last two meetings over a subject,” Manos said. “You listen to the people, you hear all the research that’s being done, the things that people are saying, you can tell they kind of looked into it, spent some time on it. This is a situation that’s not even going to be decided on for at least a year. I wish I could come out and have a conversation with you about this and respond, because, to have people scared for a year, that’s a problem for me.”
Manos’ request was not a vote on the moratorium or the Elsinore Heights project. He asked the city attorney to prepare the proposed moratorium for consideration at the next council meeting.
Mayor Bob Magee also addressed residents who spoke about the potential data center.
“For those of you that came out tonight regarding the data center, I want to thank you for your passion and your decorum,” Magee said. “And the message has been received. “
The Elsinore Heights Industrial Project remains under environmental review. Once the draft EIR is released for public review, residents will have 45 days to submit written comments. The Elsinore Heights Industrial Project webpage will be updated when the draft EIR is available for public review.
