El Segundo's City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday, Oct. 20, on data centers and whether to extend the city's temporary moratorium on new facilities.

The city announced the hearing on its social media accounts. The full meeting agenda is available on the city's website. Residents can attend in person, join via Zoom or watch the livestream on YouTube.

The hearing comes roughly five weeks after the council held a special meeting on Sept. 15 to discuss imposing a 45-day moratorium on new data centers, according to a city Instagram post announcing that session.

A proposal that packed the room

The moratorium followed a dramatic July 9 Planning Commission hearing where developer Eight Form had proposed demolishing the 143-room Hyatt Place hotel at 750 N. Nash St. to build a five-story, nearly 240,000-square-foot data center with an on-site electrical substation.

The project would have required 49.5 megawatts of electricity, with 16 diesel backup generators on standby in case of emergencies, according to the Mercury News. Eight Form founder Arjun Shokeen said at the hearing that an operator would need to commit to a lease supporting a $600 million build-out, and no operator was guaranteed.

More than 100 people crowded into the meeting, with attendees spilling into the hallway. Residents submitted more than 700 pages of public comment, the Westside Current reported.

Before the last speakers reached the microphone, Shokeen rose from the audience and withdrew the application. "I've heard the community loud and clear … We're not going to be moving forward with the data center," he said, as reported by the Mercury News.

Residents had raised concerns about power use, noise, pollution and the site's proximity to the Wiseburn School District and youth athletic fields. Planning Commission Chair Kevin Maggay said environmental consultants should have taken noise readings at existing data centers rather than theorizing potential impacts, the Mercury News reported.

Regional and national pushback

El Segundo is not alone. Los Angeles County enacted its own temporary ban on hyperscale data centers in unincorporated areas on Sept. 17, signed by planning director Amy Bodek, Hoodline reported. Supervisor Hilda Solis is leading a separate push toward a permanent ban. That county order does not apply to incorporated cities like El Segundo, which control their own zoning.

Nationally, developers have canceled at least $260 billion in planned U.S. data center projects in 2026, according to Quartz, citing research from Heatmap Pro. Most died at the local level when developers could not secure permits.

El Segundo City Council candidate John Pickhaver said on Instagram that he called for the temporary moratorium now in effect and that the upcoming election carries stakes for the city's data-center policy.

The Oct. 20 meeting is open to the public. Zoom instructions are included in the agenda posted on the city's website.