A 45-day moratorium on data centers has been passed in Monterey Park, California.

On January 21, the Monterey Park City Council unanimously approved the moratorium of all “pending, and acceptance of new, data center land use applications within Saturn Park.”

Saturn Park is a business park that is the proposed site of a 250,000 sq ft (23,225 sqm), 15.8-acre hyperscale data center.

The moratorium means that this proposal, backed by Australian investment firm HMC Capital, will be put on hold. HMC acquired the site in late 2024 for $39 million, and documents show that it filed for a public review of the development last October.

The council also stated that the moratorium would give it time to “prepare regulations for… consideration that would prohibit data centers throughout Monterey Park,” said the council in a press release.

These additional regulations will be discussed at a public hearing before March 7 of this year.

There has been significant local opposition to the data center. Residents have expressed concern about the perceived inadequacy of the council’s planning process, as well as the potential impact of a data center on local utility rates and the environment.

A petition against the data center has gathered more than 4,000 signatures at the time of writing.

Monterey Park is a city in the Greater Los Angeles area, one of California’s data center hotspots.