Amazon uses 45-year-old zoning loophole to dodge Gilroy vote on AI data center

Amazon circumvents Gilroy community vote for AI data center

A massive Amazon data center is under construction in Gilroy, California, despite the community never getting a chance to vote on it. The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon exploited zoning rules from 1980 that classify the site as farmland, allowing the project to bypass a public vote. The company and city had disagreements during the approval process, and residents were locked out of the public comment window.