{
"type": "rich",
"version": "1.0",
"provider_name": "Action Network",
"provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org",
"html": "",
"author_name": "No Data Center MPK!",
"author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/no-data-centers-in-monterey-park",
"title": "No Data Centers in Monterey Park!",
"thumbnail_url": "https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/719/931/normal/data-center.jpg",
"description": "The Issue In January of 2024, a private Australian developer, HMC StratCorp (the Applicant), with their subsidiary DigiCo REIT, proposed building a hyperscale data center. This is a facility housing computer servers to be used to train AI, among other uses, at 1977 Saturn Avenue in Monterey Park. This would be an approximately 250,000 square foot industrial facility that would be operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in the middle of Monterey Park, tripling the city's energy consumption. A project of this scale would undoubtedly create negative environmental and health-related consequences, raise utility costs, and decrease property values. 🚫 HMC Wants to Push The Project Through Without a Full Environmental Review 📣 We do not want a data center in Monterey Park. There is no level of mitigation that would make this project okay. We demand that the City Council vote for a full environmental review to measure the full impact of the proposed project, which would effectively shut this project down. 🚫 City Council Did Not Effectively Engage the Public About This Project and Most Residents Are Just Finding Out About It 📣 City Council has an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to Monterey Park residents and regain their trust. City Council's continued accommodation of HMC demonstrates a disregard for Monterey Park and its residents. Approving HMC’s proposal would be a betrayal of trust, especially considering the widespread opposition and the absence of meaningful public benefits for our community. Council members who vote "yes" on approving HMC’s proposal will face the consequences at the ballot box. Background On October 31, 2024, HMC submitted an Initial Study (IS) and Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for this data center. In response to some feedback received on December 2, 2024 from organizations like Advocates for the Environment and others, HMC submitted revised technical details with design enhancements on October 27, 2025. The IS/MND is a streamlined environmental review process that allows projects to move forward quickly, but only if all impacts are deemed "less than significant." For a facility of this scale, that conclusion deserves scrutiny. The applicant's consultants (Kimley-Horn) prepared the IS/MND. They chose the assumptions, set the study boundaries, and selected the comparisons. Not surprisingly, they concluded their client's project poses no significant impacts. But "less than significant" is a legal threshold, not a measure of whether there are actual impacts or whether real people will be affected. Thresholds are imperfect measures of experienced reality. They are often arbitrary: Noise limits (54–56 dB) are set for regulatory convenience, not based on health research about sleep disruption or stress. They may be outdated: Air quality thresholds don't always reflect current science on cumulative health effects. Impacts below thresholds still cause harm: A continuous 50 dB hum 24/7 may comply with the law but still degrade quality of life. "Mitigated" ≠ "Eliminated": Sound barriers reduce noise; they don't make it disappear. Biofiltration treats stormwater; it doesn't purify it. You have the right to define what matters to your community – even if they're deemed legally "insignificant." The phrase "less than significant" is a regulatory conclusion, not a statement that nothing bad will happen. It means that by some measures impacts will fall below a regulatory threshold set by an agency (e.g., The City of Monterey Park). That’s all it means. It does not mean the impact is harmless, negligible, or unnoticeable; that no one will be affected; or that the threshold itself is scientifically or morally defensible. Applicants have strong incentives to produce MNDs and avoid Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs): they save time and money, face less public scrutiny, and avoid identifying alternatives or additional mitigation measures. But MNDs are also easier to challenge legally. If opponents can show a "fair argument" that significant impacts exist – even if the applicant's consultants disagree – a court can require a full EIR. On this project, the MND is quite weak and it is easy to meet this standard. Here are a couple of selected issues: Noise from chillers narrowly within permitted levels: Operational noise from chillers will be 50–55 dBA at property lines. These fall within City limits, but will be constant and with margins as narrow as 1 decibel -- essentially no room for error. For context, this is what that could sound like. Their conclusion is “less than significant impact.” Energy consumption: The facility would draw an estimated 434 GWh/year from the SoCal Edison grid (which is only one-third renewable). This triples Monterey Park's total energy consumption, yet the IS/MND dismisses it as merely 0.64% of SoCal Edison's total demand. Their conclusion is "less than significant." Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions: The project would generate approximately 77,000 metric tons of CO2 annually -- equivalent to roughly 17,000 cars on the road. The bulk of these emissions (75,181 metric tons) come from offsite grid power generation. The IS/MND excludes these Scope 2 emissions from its analysis, saying it shouldn't count, even though they are real and should be counted; they are simply experienced by communities near power plants rather than in Monterey Park. Their conclusion: "less than significant." Throughout the IS/MND, Kimley-Horn appears to minimize each number in ways that obscure its significance -- seemingly to avoid triggering an EIR. ✨✨Your voice matters! ✨✨ Your signature here and your testimony can help establish the record needed to argue that significant impacts weren't adequately analyzed. The applicant wanted a quick approval; with your engagement, you can make the case that this project deserves a closer look. Together, we can make our voices hard to ignore. What you can do right now Sign this petition and engage on this page Attend public hearings (date TBD; postponed indefinitely as of December 2025). Attend City Council meetings (every second Wednesday @ 6:30) and make public comment that you are opposed to this Data Center and object to the lack of engagement of the City with the community. Submit written comments to the City of Monterey Park Planning Division citing specific concerns and requesting responses (see contact information below) Schedule 1:1s with City Council Members and ask them your questions and share your concerns directly (see contact information below). When you reach out, they may not respond immediately -- so it's important to follow-up with them to remind them that this is important to you. Request an EIR if you believe there's a "fair argument" that significant impacts haven't been adequately analyzed. Talk with your neighbors and organize to amplify concerns about cumulative and localized impacts. Team-up with community-based organizations by following their Instagram (SGV Progressive Action), joining a Facebook Group (Monterey Park Against Data Centers), joining a Signal group (MPK Data Center Opposition), or joining an email list to stay up-to-date (send an email to join). Monterey Park Contacts City Council Name Title Email Phone Yang, Elizabeth Mayor and Council Member, District 2 eyang@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1465 Lo, Henry Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member, District 4 hlo@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1465 Sanchez, Jose Council Member, District 3 josanchez@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1465 Wong, Thomas Council Member, District 1 twong@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1465 Ngo, Vinh T. Council Member, District 5 vngo@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1465 Planning Division Contacts Name Title Email Phone Hou, Timothy Director of Community Development thou@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1463 Chow, Beth Planning Manager bchow@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1318 Muñoz, Eliana Senior Planner emunoz@MontereyPark.ca.gov 626-307-1304 Tan, Kevin Assistant Planner ktan@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1302 Sanchez, Nikole Permit Technician I nsanchez@montereypark.ca.gov 626-307-1307",
"url": "https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-data-centers-in-monterey-park"
}