Denton City Council members unanimously voted to start the legal process to begin a moratorium on the development of data centers in city limits at the Aug. 18 regular meeting.
What happened?
A supermajority vote, or 75%, was needed to pass the moratorium, according to previous reporting.
“[A moratorium] is a temporary pause on accepting or processing new development applications,” said Charlie Rosendahl, Denton’s director of development services. “They can’t halt application processes that are already vested, and they would need to be limited [to] a geographic area.”
The start of the legal process means City Council must hold two public hearings with notice to gather community feedback, then council members will vote for or against 90-day moratorium against new development and permitting for data centers.
A public notice for the hearing is scheduled to be published Aug. 22. The first hearing will be held Sept. 22 and the second will be held Oct. 27. The hearings cannot be less than 30 days apart, according to Rosendahl’s presentation.
Once the public hearings are held, City Council will vote on passing the moratorium.
Zooming in
Rosendahl said the Denton Development Code could also be updated to enhance local regulations on data centers.
According to his presentation, the Development Code Review Committee will look at the recommended updates Aug. 24, then a public notice will be issued Sept. 12.
Possible amendments presented at an Aug. 4 work session include:
- All data centers would require a specific-use permit in any Denton district and would restrict the allowed zoning areas.
- Specific-use standards would be required for water and wastewater loading studies, along with free-air cooling systems and closed-loop cooling systems.
The Denton Planning & Zoning Commission will hold its first public meeting on the codes Sept. 23, then a second public hearing with Denton City Council will occur Oct. 13. The adoption of the new codes could be voted on by council members during that meeting, Rosendahl said.
“I think [a moratorium and updating the city’s development code] are both avenues of protection,” council member George Ferrie said at the Aug. 4 work session. “I don’t understand the want to not do both simultaneously.”
The backstory
The discussion to start the legal process for the moratorium was broached with a two-minute pitch from Mayor Pro Tem Nick Stevens May 14, and council members approved the pitch June 2.
Denton Municipal Electric General Manager Tony Puente said at the Aug. 4 work session there are no data center prospects for the city at the moment.
“There is interest out there for additional development in the community,” he said of new data center development.
The discussion comes on the heels of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Aug. 3 announcement that Texas is halting the approval of new data center projects pending an audit on data centers trying to connect to the state’s power grid, according to previous reporting.
Looking ahead
Once the public hearings are held, City Council will vote on passing the moratorium as early as Dec. 2, according to Rosendahl’s presentation. If the resolution passes, all new development and permitting for data centers in Denton City limits will be halted effective immediately.
City officials can also vote to extend the moratorium another 90 days at the end of the original 90-day resolution.
If council members vote to pass the code updates, they will become effective Oct. 27, Rosendahl said.
