Dozens of Eugene residents packed City Hall Monday night to voice opposition to data center development and call on the City Council to impose a moratorium.
More than 70 people signed up to speak during public comment. Before the meeting began, council chambers had reached capacity, leaving roughly 50 people outside.
The calls for a moratorium come after city staff determined that a data center, as described in a recent zoning inquiry, would not be allowed at the former Hyundai-Hynix semiconductor facility in west Eugene.
Jojo Breslin, among those unable to enter the meeting hall, said he was there to urge city officials to take action.
“I’m coming here to pressure City Council to put in a 120-day moratorium on data centers in the city,” Breslin said.
The zoning inquiry concerned 1830 Willow Creek Circle, the nearly 1.4 million-square-foot former semiconductor campus. The city said the inquiry was not a development proposal, and there is no publicly identified data center project at the site.
The city’s Planning and Development department determined the described data-center use as prohibited under the property’s E-1 Campus Employment zoning.
Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson said before public comment that the city’s scheduled December discussion around data centers does not mean officials are waiting to resolve the Hynix question. She said the city’s determination makes clear that the use described in the zoning inquiry is not allowed at the site.
“It is not to say that we are stuck in limbo until that point in time,” Knudson said.
Still, residents told councilors that they want protections against future data center development–not just at the former Hynix site.
“Eugene should have absolutely no part in this,” said Sarah Roby.
Speakers raised concerns about the amount of electricity and water that large scale facilities can require. Many went on to cite utility rates, air pollution and noise and questioned whether data centers would provide enough permanent jobs to offset infrastructure and resource demands.
Some also called for greater transparency around negotiations between public agencies and data-center developers, including restrictions on nondisclosure agreements.
“We need the City Council on record with definitive yeses or no votes on their position towards data centers,” said Eugene resident Darwin Denny.
The council will discuss data centers and Eugene’s land-use code during a Dec. 14 work session.
The city said it has authority to update its land use code to regulate different types of activities and uses. It does not specifically identify data centers in its current code.
