Tulare County Fair Board Tables Global Stack Fairgrounds Data Center Lease After 3 Hours of Public Opposition

The Tulare County Fair board tabled a vote July 21 on leasing 2-5 acres of fairgrounds to Global Stack LLC — a company incorporated in March 2026 pitching 100-year leases for 8-10 MW edge data centers at fairgrounds across California, paired with parking garages and helicopter pads. Residents packed the meeting and spoke for more than three hours against the proposal, citing water usage, noise, and lack of environmental review. A separate rally against Global Stack was held July 23.

Targeting fairground boards rather than county zoning bodies appears to be a novel siting strategy: fairground leases may not trigger the same CEQA environmental-review requirements that apply to standard county land-use approvals, making this a regulatory-bypass mechanism distinct from the zoning and moratorium fights the timeline has tracked elsewhere — worth watching for whether Global Stack pitches the same fairground-lease structure at other California county fairs.