Several North Texas cities are weighing temporary pauses on new data center development as municipalities address concerns about water, electricity, noise and land use.
By Jacquelyn Burrer,
Staff Writer
Dallas Morning News
As concerns about data center development grow in communities like Keller and Red Oak, some North Texas communities are exploring a state law protection that could allow for a temporary pause on development.
Fort Worth began the required legal process Aug. 11 to consider a temporary moratorium on data center development, the same day five Dallas City Council members asked Mayor Eric Johnson in a memo to review the city’s development code as it relates to data centers. Similarly, city officials in Denton are also weighing a potential pause.
But what exactly is a data center moratorium, and is it the same thing as banning data centers?
Here’s what to know.
What is a data center?
A data center is a physical facility filled with technology infrastructure, such as servers and networking equipment, that stores, processes and distributes data.
Everyday activities like sending an email, streaming a video or making a banking transaction are processed by equipment inside data centers, according to Fort Worth’s website.
What is a data center moratorium?
A moratorium is a temporary pause on certain kinds of new development.
For cities considering new data center regulations, a moratorium can provide time to study the facilities’ impacts and adopt rules addressing them before new projects are considered.
State law allows municipalities to impose a moratorium on property development under certain circumstances, but cities must follow specific procedures before doing so. The specific requirements can be found in the Texas Local Government Code Chapter 212, Subchapter E, said Kevin Neal, a senior public information officer for Fort Worth, in a statement.
To adopt a moratorium, a city must follow notice and public hearing requirements and make written findings justifying the pause. Moratoriums generally last up to 90 days but can be extended another 90 days under procedures established by state law.
Why are North Texas cities considering moratoriums?
As state officials complete an audit of all data center projects, local municipalities are looking to see what their regulatory options are as the Dallas-Fort Worth data center market continues to grow.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in a social media statement this is an “urgent moment” for the city after council approved starting the moratorium legal process.
“We have the opportunity to lead by example in Fort Worth to enact smart regulations and bolster existing ordinances that put our city and its residents first, while also keeping our city competitive, attracting high-tech investment and expanding the municipal tax base,” Parker said.
Denton city officials are considering a similar approach, discussing potential changes to the city’s development code and a temporary 90-day moratorium.
Dallas City Council member Chad West, who signed onto the memo, said in a social media statement that data centers are allowed by-right in many non-residential areas with little oversight.
“I am hopeful we can amend the code to give Dallas residents and council more say on if and how data centers are to be built in our city,” West said.
Is a data center moratorium different from a ban?
A moratorium can temporarily pause certain new development, while a ban prohibits something altogether. But some entities, like counties, have different legal powers for establishing moratoriums than cities do.
For example, Hill County recently found itself in a lawsuit brought by a Texas data center developer after the county voted in May to establish a year-long moratorium.
Meanwhile, the city of San Marcos amended its land development code in June to prohibit data centers in all of the city’s zoning districts, effectively banning data center development within city limits.
San Marcos City Council member Amanda Rodriguez, who was the first on council to push for the ban, said the viability of a moratorium “just wasn’t there.” Instead, Rodriguez said she worked to creatively explore San Marcos’ ability as a home rule city to regulate land use and address concerns about data centers.
Rodriguez said they first had to define data centers as a distinct use and then decline to permit that use in any of the city’s zoning districts.
“We looked at every zoning district possible, heavy industrial included,” Rodriguez said. “What I did was make the data center use not permitted in any zoning district, which is effectively a ban, and that’s what ended up passing later.”
Rodriguez said the city hasn’t yet received notice of any legal challenges, and other cities have reached out asking how San Marcos accomplished the changes.
“The respective local governments are acting because the people are asking,” Rodriguez said. “None of it would have happened if it wasn’t for all of [the community].”
Service Journalism Reporter
Jacquelyn Burrer is the service journalism reporter for The Dallas Morning News. She is a native of North Texas and graduated from Texas State University with a bachelor’s degree in history and in journalism. Her previous reporting can be seen in Community Impact and The Well News.
