--- title: "Amazon Used a Startlingly Dirty Trick to Build a Data Center Without Consent of Community" description: "Amazon exploited 45-year-old zoning laws in Gilroy, California, to start construction on a data center without any residents knowing." date: "2026-08-10" modified: "2026-08-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/amazon-dirty-trick-build-data-center" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Amazon Used a Startlingly Dirty Trick to Build a Data Center Without Consent of Community ![A color-treated photo of a data center.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* A quiet war is playing out in rural communities across the country. City council meetings are [bursting into conflict]() as local residents try to keep AI data centers out of their backyards. Americans are starting to see through the promises of tech companies and the local politicians they've wooed, [realizing]() that the advantages of hosting a resource-hogging data center in the neighborhood are slim. Yet tech giants are finding creative — and sometimes startlingly dirty — new ways to circumvent local opposition in their quest to build out these sprawling facilities. As the [*Wall Street Journal* reports](), Amazon exploited 45-year-old zoning laws in Gilroy, California, to start construction on a data center without any residents knowing for five entire years. "Many if not most residents first learned about this project after construction had already begun," local elementary-school teacher Coleen Crew told the town's recent council meeting, as quoted by the *WSJ*. A single city staffer, the community's development director, greenlit Amazon's 438,500-square-foot data center, which spans 56 acres of former farmland. The ancient zoning criteria allowed industrial development along the location on a local freeway. Gilroy's mayor was surprised his constituents suddenly wanted a say. "It didn’t bother them that a food-distribution center came to Gilroy without their engagement, but now it bothers them that a data center is coming to Gilroy without them having the possibility of engagement," he told the *WSJ*. There are plenty of reasons why residents would be against Amazon's latest project. Data centers are a massive resource hog and have been known to [raise electricity prices](),[ spike local greenhouse gas emissions](), [generate ear-splitting noise](), and [taint water supplies](). They are [not typically major job creators](). In short, likening it to a "food-distribution center" isn't exactly a fair comparison. Amazon Web Services president of economic development Roger Wehner told the *WSJ* that the company "followed standard approval processes for an industrially zoned parcel," but acknowledged that it should've recognized the community's desire for "more engagement sooner." "We’ve since met directly with residents and hosted an open house to hear feedback and answer questions," he added. City officials are now wondering whether to change the approval process in ways that would force developers to hold community meetings and engage with residents. When resident Rosa Rodriguez found out about the project, she asked city staff in February to publicly comment on an environmental review report, citing concerns over the drought the region is facing. But planners shut her down, telling her the comment period had closed back in September 2024, long before she knew about the project's existence. Amazon has since tried to win over the public, touting a new wastewater pipeline, tax revenue, construction jobs, and even the sponsorship of the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. However, frustrated residents weren't mollified, demanding to at least be made aware of big unfolding projects like the data center. **More on data centers:** [*AI Data Centers Are Causing Unfathomable Amounts of Air Pollution, and It Gets Worse With Each New One They Build*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()