Denton City Council could move toward a possible moratorium on the development of data centers.
The topic was discussed during an Aug. 4 work session, and council will vote on setting a public hearing date on the moratorium during its Aug. 18 meeting. Council members also discussed implementing stricter development rules for data centers, which will also require public hearings.
Mayor Chris Watts, Mayor Pro Tem Nick Stevens, and council members Jordan Villarreal and George Ferrie opted to support a combination of a moratorium and updating the city’s development code, while council members Suzi Rumohr, Jill Jester and Joe Holland supported avoiding a moratorium and focusing just on revising the code.
What’s happening?
A moratorium is a temporary pause that would limit new data center development, according to a presentation from Charlie Rosendahl, Denton’s director of development services. The first step would be publishing a public hearing notice 30 days beforehand, then setting up a second public hearing, which must be held at least 30 days after the first hearing.
City Council members will use the public hearings to gather community feedback on the development of data centers, which will help them decide on whether they should vote on a moratorium, according to the presentation.
Officials will vote on the moratorium during its Aug. 18 meeting and could set the date for that first public hearing. If passed, public hearings could occur as early as Sept. 22 and Oct. 27 based on the moratorium process Rosendahl outlined. A ruling on the moratorium could be decided Dec. 2.
A supermajority vote, which is 75% of council, would be required for a moratorium to be passed, according to Rosendahl’s presentation. If it passes, the moratorium would be in effect for 90 days.
If council members want to extend the moratorium, it can only be stretched to 180 days, and City Council must address why additional time is needed. Afterward, additional data center moratoriums cannot be called for two years, Rosendahl said.
Rumohr said the moratorium is a temporary solution, and then the city would be back to where it started once the moratorium ends.
“What people want is not temporary things. They want lasting, meaningful, rapid improvements and tightening of regulations,” Rumohr said. “I feel like that’s where we should be focusing all of our time.”
Zooming in
Council also discussed possible amendments to the Denton development code to enhance local regulations on data centers, which could go in conjunction with the moratorium.
Like a moratorium, updating the development code requires two public hearings through Denton Planning and Zoning and Denton City Council.
Ferrie asked what a timeline looks like for officials to amend the code, and Rosendahl said city officials could hold the first public hearing as early as Sept. 23 and hold a second public hearing with Denton City Council as early as Oct. 13 for adoption.
The updated development code could go into effect as early as Oct. 27, based on Rosendahl’s presentation.
Possible amendments 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.
“I think [a moratorium and updating the city’s development code] are both avenues of protection,” Ferrie said. “I don’t understand the want to not do both simultaneously. I’d like to see both plans.”
Stevens said the moratorium serves as a pause and gives council members time to assess the facts and come up with a clear solution regarding data center development.
“This temporary moratorium is not just so that you can sit around for six months and do nothing,” Stevens said. “It is so that you can have action while doing it.”
Zooming out
Denton Municipal Electric General Manager Tony Puente said while there has been interest from data centers in developing facilities in Denton, 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.
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.
Abbott said the data centers that do not meet pass the audit should not be allowed to connect to the grid.
“ERCOT is reviewing Gov. Abbott's letter concerning data centers and will work with the Public Utility Commission of Texas to implement the governor's directive, including postponement of the Batch Zero transmission planning study,” an ERCOT spokesperson told Community Impact in an Aug. 3 statement.
Officials did not say how long the pause would last or when the audits would begin.
The backstory
Denton currently has two data centers within its city limits that are either established or in development, according to previous reporting. The moratorium would not affect these data centers.
Denton officials gave the green light Jan. 13 to a specific use permit with Qumulus AI to construct and operate a new data center on leased land from the city near Western Boulevard and Jim Christal Road.
On Nov. 19, 2024, Denton officials voted to lease a total of 78.85 acres of city land at 8171 Jim Christal Road to Core Scientific to expand its operations in conjunction with Core Weave, a major cloud service provider, according to city documents.
Hannah Norton contributed to this report.
