Tulare Fair board faces pushback over proposed high-tech fairgrounds project at packed meeting
TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- A large crowd attended Tuesday's Tulare County Fair Board meeting, where community members continued to oppose a potential project at the Tulare County Fairgrounds that neighbors have described as a "data center."
The meeting followed a heated discussion last month. Public comment during Tuesday's meeting was limited to two minutes per speaker instead of five, but residents still spoke passionately about their concerns.
Outside the meeting, community members rallied and marched into the board meeting, chanting and carrying signs opposing the project.
"I want Tulare to know that they are not alone in this battle," one speaker said during public comment.
Residents said they remain concerned about unanswered questions surrounding the proposal.
"The community had a lot of questions that were unanswered. Like how much water will be used, why a 100-year-plus lease. So our concerns are, it's still unclear what the proposal is," said Rosanai Paniagua with Loud for Tomorrow.
The project under discussion is an "emergency-resilience system" proposed by Southern California-based company Global Stack.
Gary Castro, president of the Tulare County Fair Board, addressed concerns before the meeting began.
"First and foremost, the board and staff have not approved, proposed, or entertained a development of any commercial data center on the Tulare County Fairgrounds," said Gary Castro, president of the Tulare County Fair Board.
The fairgrounds have described the technology as a "self-contained edge computing system." Global Stack says the emergency-resilience system is not a data center but is designed to help first responders and emergency medical services continue operating when power or cellular networks fail.
Residents continued to question the project during public comment.
"I don't understand why you guys even bother to entertain this because all the language is nebulous and mystified," one speaker said.
Earlier Tuesday, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors approved a 45-day moratorium on data center development in unincorporated areas of Tulare County.
Last month, fair leadership voted to table the proposed emergency-resilience system until more information became available.
"We are currently in the fact-finding and feasibility phase to determine what, if anything, may be appropriate for this property," Castro said.
An item on Tuesday's agenda referenced a bid update on a resiliency center. The Tulare County Fairgrounds told Action News the agenda item pertains to a 2024 resiliency grant for a multi-use 34,000-square-foot building planned for the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and K Street and is not related to Global Stack.
Two security guards were present at Tuesday's meeting, a change from last month. During the meeting, a board member said they were working on getting a presentation from Global Stack.
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