The City of Eugene has banned city employees from signing non-disclosure agreements about data centers.
Eugene City Manager Jenny Haruyama signed the administrative order on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
It came after the Monday, Sept. 14 City Council meeting, where dozens of Eugene residents voiced their opposition to potential data center development.
A non-disclosure agreement is a contract between two parties that prohibits sharing of private or confidential information. The City said an employee signing one of these agreements with a data center goes against the city’s commitment to transparency with its citizens.
In an email, city spokesperson Elle O’Casey said city staff have not signed non-disclosure agreements for data centers before.
According to the city’s website, large, modern data centers are not allowed in Eugene. The city says the Eugene Land Use Code does not list data centers as an allowed use in any zone, and data centers do not match any other existing allowed uses.
This aligns with the recent decision that data centers are not an allowed use of the former Hyundai/Hynix site in West Eugene.
The City Council is slated to learn more about data centers and discuss land use code at the work session on Dec. 14.
