Santa Ana names "data center uses" as a conditional use in its M1 (Light Industrial) district under Municipal Code Sec. 41-472.5(r), added by Ordinance No. NS-3038 in 2023. A Planning Commission conditional use permit and CEQA review are required, and the same rule reaches the M2 district.
Santa Ana expressly lists "data center uses" as a conditional use. Section 41-472.5(r), added by Ordinance No. NS-3038 (adopted February 7, 2023), requires a conditional use permit approved by the Planning Commission after a public hearing, which triggers CEQA review. The permit cannot be granted unless a written finding shows the parcel is not within 500 feet of an arterial street or freeway, or within 1,000 feet of a freeway intersection. Because Section 41-489 makes M2 (Heavy Industrial) subject to all M1 regulations, the same requirement applies in both industrial districts. Buildings top out at 35 feet (Sec. 41-474), and an eight-foot wall is required along any lot line abutting residential land, with electric substations similarly enclosed (Sec. 41-473).
Building or operating a data center without the required Planning Commission conditional use permit is a zoning violation, subject to stop-work orders and code enforcement action by the Santa Ana Planning and Building Agency.
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