What does Monterey Park's citywide data center ban mean for property owners?

If you’re reviewing a Monterey Park property for a purchase, sale or future business use, the data center question now has a citywide answer. Ordinance No. 2279 establishes a prohibition across every zone, with a separate allowance for qualifying server rooms that support a property’s primary use. A dedicated data center and a qualifying accessory server room do not receive the same treatment under the ordinance.

This guide is educational, not legal or tax advice.

What does the citywide ban prohibit?

The ban prohibits constructing, operating, reconstructing or using real property for a data center in any zone, unless federal or state law preempts the rule.

The City of Monterey Park adopted Ordinance No. 2279 on May 6, 2026, after its first reading on April 15, 2026. It adds subsection C to Monterey Park Municipal Code (MPMC) 21.02.170.

That subsection also states that using a building or real property in violation of the prohibition is a misdemeanor. Separately, Section 3 adds MPMC 4.30.050(jj), declaring construction, operation or maintenance of a data center within the city a public nuisance.

For your property review, those are distinct provisions in the text: a zoning prohibition and a public nuisance provision. Section 1.D describes the purpose as establishing a permanent land use policy that data centers are not an allowed use anywhere in the city.

What counts as a data center?

MPMC 21.04.295 defines a data center by its use for housing a large group of networked computer systems for data storage and processing.

The definition covers a building, a dedicated space within a building or a group of structures. It addresses systems serving off-site and on-site users for remote storage, processing or distribution of large amounts of data.

Associated infrastructure may include power generators, water cooling and storage facilities, utility substations and back-up batteries. Air handlers, fire suppression systems and other associated utility infrastructure also appear in the definition.

A dedicated space inside a larger building can therefore fall within the definition. Reading only the property’s building description would leave out part of the ordinance’s test. The use of the space, including its relationship to the primary use, matters under the definitions.

I spoke with an owner of an industrial property in Monterey Park who assumed a technology company would be an acceptable future tenant. When we reviewed the city’s data-center ban, he realized that “technology use” was too broad a description to rely on. We needed to know what the tenant would actually operate inside the building before deciding whether the use was permitted.

Can your business still have a server room?

A qualifying associated data room or server room is allowed as an accessory use in all zones.

MPMC 21.04.295.102 supplies the separate definition. The enclosed room or space must serve the primary land use on the same lot or site, solely in conjunction with and incidental to that use. It must remain physically and operationally subordinate to the primary use.

The definition also says the room cannot serve independent commercial, wholesale or third-party data processing, storage or transmission. A server room that meets those conditions is described as an accessory use, not a data center.

What changed in Saturn Park and the Market Place Specific Plan?

Ordinance 2279 removes data center permissions from both Saturn Park’s use lists and the Market Place Specific Plan.

Section 1.G explains that the council amended Saturn Park’s MPMC Chapter 21.14 in 2024 to distinguish a data processing facility from a data center. Under that earlier framework, a data center could receive approval in Saturn Park only through a development agreement approved by the council.

Ordinance 2279 deletes both uses from the lists in MPMC 21.14.040 and 21.14.210. It also repeals MPMC 21.14.220, the development agreement section.

The Market Place Specific Plan, adopted through Ordinance 2231 on June 21, 2023, had allowed data centers as a primary land use. Section 11 of Ordinance 2279 deletes that use from Table 1.

The city’s data center page also identifies the proposal at 1977 Saturn Street as withdrawn. That listing does not identify a replacement use.

For another city’s data center zoning amendment, see Adelanto’s data center zoning amendment.

How do Measure NDC and the earlier moratorium fit together?

Measure NDC supplies the voter-approved policy connection, while Ordinance 2279 replaces reliance on temporary moratoria with permanent code changes.

Measure NDC, titled Community Act Prohibiting Data Centers, appeared on the June 2, 2026 special election ballot. The City Attorney’s Impartial Analysis explains that Monterey Park voters must approve a new Land Use and Urban Design Element or changes to it.

The city describes the ban as adopted by voters through Measure NDC in its Measure HOM material.

Earlier, Ordinance 2272 established a 45-day moratorium on January 21, 2026. Ordinance 2274 followed on March 4, 2026. The city’s March 5 release says the extended moratorium prohibits acceptance, processing or consideration of data center applications through January 21, 2027.

Section 1.O of Ordinance 2279 says continued reliance on interim moratoria is not a complete prohibition. For the related housing measure, the Measure HOM guide explains that the city treats HOM as not changing the data center ban.

What does the ordinance say about timing?

Section 20 states that all amendments implemented by Ordinance 2279 are retroactively effective on June 21, 2023.

Section 22 separately states that the ordinance takes effect on the same date as Section 9 of Measure NDC. Those are the timing provisions the document gives; they do not resolve how retroactivity applies to a particular property or application.

The city also adopted Ordinance No. 2278 on May 6, 2026, establishing the same prohibition by regular ordinance. Its effective-date section specifies 30 days after adoption.

Keep those documents distinct when reviewing a property’s land use history. Ordinance 2279 contains both the retroactivity language and the effective-date connection to Measure NDC.

Does the ban change what your property is worth?

The ordinance does not establish a value change for your property.

Section 13 states the council’s finding that the changes are intended to enhance property values while balancing property rights. Section 1.T discusses potential environmental and aesthetic impacts, along with related effects on property values. These are the council’s stated findings, not market measurements.

Section 12.I also says the regulations operate citywide and will not change the use or intensity of use of property in any zone. The ordinance does not establish a change in your taxes or assessments. Those questions are separate from the land use prohibition; the California supplemental property tax guide addresses that tax topic.

The short version

Monterey Park’s adopted policy prohibits data centers citywide while allowing qualifying accessory server rooms.

For a property review, start with MPMC 21.02.170(C), then compare the proposed use with the definitions in MPMC 21.04.295 and 21.04.295.102. Earlier data center permissions in Saturn Park and the Market Place Specific Plan have been removed. Keep the council’s property-value findings separate from any conclusion about what a particular property is worth.

Curious what your home is worth today? Try the home value tool.