SAN DIEGO — A developer seeking to build the largest AI data center in California has won an early skirmish over a project that has already caused bitter divisions in a rural corner of the state.
The Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve a request by the developer to merge five parcels of land zoned for industrial and agricultural use — but adjacent to hundreds of homes — to create a 75-acre site for its data center project.
That vote came after four hours of often-impassioned public testimony, divided between people concerned about the environmental and health effects from the project and those who see it as a badly needed economic boost for an area with some of the highest unemployment in the state.
It was an early test of the political viability for the proposed data center, even though several board members emphasized that they were only voting to approve the merger of the lots and a change to a road in the area, not the overall development.
