Cheers erupted as city council members in Chandler, Arizona, voted Thursday against approving a massive data center project.
The Chandler, Arizona City Council voted unanimously Thursday against clearing the way for construction of an AI data center.
Cheers and applause broke out after the unanimous vote result was announced.
Before the vote, several people made remarks expressing opposition to the prospect of allowing construction of the center, and some in the audience held signs opposing the proposed project.
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A Tempe resident speaks out against a proposed AI data center in Chandler, Arizona, during a city council meeting on December 11, 2025. (City of Chandler, Arizona / Fox News)
Some people held up signs reading “NO MORE DATA CENTERS.”
Former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema had lobbied for the proposed project.
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., at the U.S. Capitol before the Senate takes up procedural votes on the foreign aid package passed by the House on April 23, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Getty Images)
At an Oct. 15 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, she spoke in favor of moving forward with the project, noting that she was there on behalf of Active Infrastructure and is co-chair of the AI Infrastructure Coalition.
Active Infrastructure is the developer pushing the project.
“Chandler currently has the opportunity to determine how and when this innovative new AI data will be created. When federal preemption comes, we will no longer have this privilege,” Sinema warned.
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Ashley Webster of FOX Business reports that “huge” data centers are springing up at a rapid pace across the United States, creating jobs, but also detractors from “making money.”
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The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 at that October meeting to recommend approval of the project’s rezoning.
