Hayward’s New Data-Center Rules Face Their First Major Test

Hayward’s new data-center rules give the City Council a formal hearing role for future projects, but they do not by themselves reopen the approval for STACK Infrastructure’s large campus on Eden Landing Road.

The city lists STACK SVY03A as a 76.6-megawatt project that is under construction. The Planning Commission approved it on May 22, 2025, before Hayward created a specific data-center land-use category. The city says no appeal was filed.

That timing remains important as residents and businesses continue to question the project’s environmental, infrastructure and neighborhood effects, while future applicants now face a more explicit public process.

What Hayward approved in 2025

STACK SVY03A is planned for an approximately 11-acre site at 26062 Eden Landing Road. The project includes a three-story data center, generator yard, substation, switching yard and related accessory structures and site improvements.

The Planning Commission considered application SPR-23-0036 as a Major Site Plan Review and Administrative Use Permit application. The May 22 agenda also included the project’s environmental documents, mitigation-monitoring and reporting program, public-benefits package and sustainability plan.

At the time, Hayward’s municipal code did not identify data centers as their own land-use category. The city says they were handled under the broader “office” use category, which could be approved administratively. The Planning Commission hearing occurred because STACK’s other project features required Major Site Plan Review.

The California Energy Commission’s record identifies the agency as the lead agency for the project’s environmental review. The commission adopted a mitigated negative declaration and granted a Small Power Plant Exemption in May 2025. Hayward’s Planning Commission agenda separately called for the city to review and certify the environmental documents and mitigation-monitoring program as part of the local approval.

What changed in April 2026

In April 2026, the City Council amended the Hayward Municipal Code to create a specific data-center category. Any new data-center application must now receive a Major Conditional Use Permit and go to a public hearing before the City Council.

Future applicants must also submit sustainability and community-benefits plans and undergo environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Hayward says properties within 300 feet of a proposed project must receive mailed notice when an application is received and when a public meeting is scheduled.

The city currently reports no pending applications for another new data center.

The new rules do not change STACK’s approval

The April code amendment does not, by itself, convert, cancel or reopen STACK SVY03A. The project was approved under the earlier framework and remains listed by Hayward as under construction.

Future applicants will face a more explicit public process than STACK did. STACK remains governed primarily by its existing approval, conditions and permits unless a later legal, permit or agency action changes that record.

What the state docket shows

The California Energy Commission docket for STACK includes a June 18, 2026 staff memorandum requesting that docket 23-SPPE-01 be closed. The memo says the commission granted the project’s Small Power Plant Exemption on May 8, 2025 and asks the docket unit to close the proceeding.

The docket log records that request, but the available record reviewed for this article does not establish that the docket was formally closed. It also does not show that every construction, monitoring or operational obligation has ended.

A May 5, 2025 Hayward letter in the CEC docket states that the city would process the project’s planning entitlements and related building, grading and encroachment permits. It also says the city would enforce the mitigation-monitoring and reporting program after approval of the entitlement application. That document describes the oversight framework; it is not a current certification that all mitigation measures have been completed.

Those records address different parts of the project. The city’s listing concerns local construction status and development oversight. The state memorandum concerns the requested closure of the CEC proceeding. Neither establishes that construction is complete.

Why residents are still watching

Public comments recorded in the CEC docket and recent local reporting show continuing opposition as well as support. Residents have raised concerns about water, energy, air quality, shoreline habitat, noise and the project’s classification under the former code. Those comments are part of the public record, not findings by the CEC or the city.

OpGov.News reported that some local businesses and workers supported the project because of expected customer growth, construction employment and apprenticeship opportunities. The outlet also reported concerns from businesses affected by relocation or reduced walkable space near the construction area. Those accounts are attributed statements and do not establish the project’s final economic effects.

For Hayward residents and nearby property owners, the next useful records to watch are construction and inspection updates, mitigation-monitoring reports, permit actions, any formal confirmation of CEC docket closure and applications submitted under the city’s new data-center rules.

Sources

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