At the rate it’s going, Santa Clara may have to change its nickname to “The Data Center of What’s Possible.”
At its most recent meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 3, the Santa Clara City Council went against the planning commission, overturning its rejection of a data center project, set to be located at 1231 Comstock St. Upholding the appeal from the applicant, Prime Data Centers, the council gave the thumbs-up to the 111,000 square-foot, four-story data center.
The project didn’t meet with the planning commission’s approval.
Afshan Hamid, community development director, told the council the project meets the updated policies for zoning and is consistent with the city’s general plan. Further, she said, the 1.37-acre site will add to the city’s tax base.
Chris Sumpter, with Prime Data Centers, told the council that conservative estimates show $21.1 million would pour into the city’s general fund over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, over the same period, Santa Clara Unified School District would see $23.1 million in tax revenue from the project.
According to Hamid’s presentation to the council, the planning commission found the project to “be detrimental to the harmonious or orderly growth of the city,” citing the numerous data centers already in the city and project’s lack of connectivity to other developments.
Lance Saleme, chair of planning commission, called in to give the council insight into the planning commission’s reasoning for the denial.
“An individual data center is not a problem, or two or ten, but we are at 60. When are we going to have too many?” he said. “Do we want paved over data centers, edge to edge, or do we want to inspire other industry and residence and other aspects that can make the city more rich and more varied? Because, right now, I think we have reached a limit.”
However, the project saw good public support from those in attendance, almost all of whom were union advocates.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor said the planning commission was talking out of school, saying they were “going off into areas they shouldn’t have been talking about.”
Many public commenters pointed to the construction jobs the data center would bring to union workers. Many called the area “data center alley,” saying it is the ideal location for such a development.
Keith Sylva, with the sheet metal workers union, called it “critical infrastructure.”
“We can’t build these things fast enough,” he said. “There is nothing else that is going to go on this block.
But not everyone agreed.
As a former planning commissioner, Vice Mayor Anthony Becker said he understood the frustration of having the council override the planning commission. However, he still supported the project.
The lone opposition was Council Member Kevin Park, He said he worried that putting another data center in the area will create a cascade effect, setting a precedent that would open the door for even more data centers. The problems surrounding data centers deserve a broader discussion, he said, adding that the issue “has been hovering over the city like a cloud for years.”
Park said he further worried that developers could “buy their way” into getting projects approved. He was the lone vote opposing the project.
Council Member Raj Chahal recused himself.
Year-End Budget Adjustments, City Attorney Gets Pay Bump
Due to a combination of higher-than-expected revenue and cost-cutting measures, the city ended the previous fiscal year with an excess of $17.6 million. That excess money required that the council approve a series of budget amendments.
“These additional dollars provide essential one-time resources that are typically used for one-time needs and for filling our rainy day reserves, such as our budget stabilization reserve,” said City Manager Jovan Grogan.
The amendments passed unanimously.
The council also gave City Attorney Glen Googins a 3.25% raise, retroactive to March. Googins now earns $356,212 a year.
Gillmor and Council Member Kathy Watanabe opposed the increase on the grounds that the council has yet to give Googins a performance review. Other council members said it was unfair for the council to punish Googins for its failure to evaluate his performance in a timely manner.
Sujata Reuter, assistant city attorney sitting in for Googins who recused himself, told the council it was under its purview to consider the raise, even without such a review.
“I am not going to vote for a salary increase without a performance evaluation,” Gillmor said. “It is not in the spirit of what we should be doing.”
Park said he had issues with the process and the lack of an evaluation, adding that cost-of-living adjustments are not automatic for the city attorney. However, he also noted that the city-hired evaluator for Googins’ assessment was available when the council had a quorum. The council could have reviewed Googins’ performance in a more timely manner if the council was more hard-nosed about holding time-sensitive meetings without the full council present, he said.
The council approved the raise in a 5-2 vote, with Gillmor and Watanabe opposing.
Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:
- $5.66 million in purchase orders with Municipal Maintenance Equipment, Inc., Downtown Ford, Golden State Fire Apparatus, Altec Industries, Inc., and Peterson Tractor for vehicles and equipment for the public works, fire department, police department, Silicon Valley Power (SVP), water and sewer utilities, and parks and recreation departments.
- A $735,900 purchase order with Insight Public Sector for automated license plate reader systems.
- A $368,920 contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for crosswalks improvements.
- A one-year $200,000 contract with InfoSend, Inc. for print and mail services. This contract allows the city manager to extend the contract by up to six years, increasing the contract amount by $1.75 million.
- A $2.5 million agreement with Global Rental Co. for rental of equipment for SVP.
- $5.5 million to purchase land, located at 2900-2930 Lafayette St., for SVP.
- A $644,666 contract with Sposeto Engineering, Inc. for pedestrian crosswalk upgrades and traffic signal modifications.
- $20 million in amendments to contracts with consultants — 1898 & Co., TRC Solutions, Inc., Electrical Consultants, Inc., AECOM Technical Services, Inc., Stantec Consulting Services Inc., Advisian Worley Group, Leidos Engineering, Flynn Resource Consultants, Inc. and EN Engineering — for SVP’s system capacity expansion plan.
- A $3.8 million contract with Jones Sign Co. Inc. for sign replacement at Levi’s Stadium.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Dec. 10 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.
Members of the public can participate in the City Council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the City’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov
More City Council:
Housing Complex Will Add 2,600 Apartments To Santa Clara
New Transmission Line Will Fuel SVP Growth
City Council Approves Interim Supportive Housing Funding — Again
