Oakley residents concerned industrial project would open path for a data center

A privately-owned property with exhausted vineyards in Oakley is at the center of a public battle. There is a rezoning proposal in play that has a lot of people up in arms.

"All you'll see is parking lot and buildings and probably lots of different trucks and cars," said Jasper Willowbrook, who lives within a quarter of a mile from the land in question.

"I would love to continue living in Oakley. But of course, nobody wants to live next to a warehouse," he said.

The rezoning of the 164-acre property is necessary to make way for the Bridgehead Industrial Project. The plan is to create a 10-building campus with up to 3.1 million square feet of industrial warehouses and logistics buildings there.

"Warehouses in general, big roads, and developments, cause so much ecological damage," Willowbrook said.

The applicant hasn't specified the tenants and operations yet. But the proposal does include the possibility of a data center being a part of the campus eventually. That element of this proposal is at the root of many in the community's unease.

"It's anticipated to operate 24/7 – So, all of the time. If it is a data center, which I do anticipate there will be a type of data center, it would make sense that it is operating 24/7," Willowbrook said. "The data center could use up a lot of the power, or, if God forbid it's an AI data center, it would use up water like absolutely no other."

Willowbrook's primary concerns are about environmental impacts.

"One of the biggest issues with even just the possibility of having a data center here is the type of data center this property could warehouse. Because of its size and proximity to a freshwater source, if they wanted an energy and water-consuming AI data center, that would be absolutely detrimental to the Delta. There's absolutely no doubt about it," he said.

There's been enough community pushback that when Oakley's Planning Commission approved the project in January, they did so with a recommendation to tack on a conditional use permit for any data center. The applicant agreed and amended its proposal, according to city documents.

Supporters of the idea say it will have short-term and long-term benefits for Oakley.

"I see business coming to this community," said Jason Lindsey, the president of Ironworkers Local 378.

"The developer, JB2, has committed to using the union labor to build this project," he said. "They're all going to be good union jobs with family-sustaining benefits and wages being paid."

Ken Strelo, Oakley's Community Development Director, says the project is estimated to create 3,500 permanent jobs at buildout, with 2,000 on-site and 1,500 throughout Contra Costa County. In addition to that, he says the project is estimated to create 3,700 temporary construction jobs.

"I have a couple of hundred members who live in East County, not all in Oakley, some in Brentwood, some in Antioch, some in Pittsburg. They're excited to have an opportunity to work close to home. It doesn't happen too often," Lindsey said. "Any time we can build locally using local labor, especially such a good project that's going to provide permanent jobs? It's a win for everybody involved."

Strelo added that it is projected to boost Oakley's General Fund revenue to between approximately $1 million and $1.4 million.

Willowbrook thinks there is a better path forward. He's hopeful the family that owns the property will consider it.

"They should donate the northern parcel for ecological rehabilitation," he said. "They should develop the southern parcel for its already intended commercial use, just based on each parcel's proximity to other businesses and the Delta."