Hood County commissioners gave conditional approval to a roughly 2,100-acre development aimed at housing another data center in the region Tuesday after about two hours of pushback from locals urging them to turn it down.
The real estate company Sailfish submitted the proposal, known as Comanche Circle, last year. The park would include several data center buildings, on-site power generation and on-site water and wastewater management, all of which require special permits.
According to its proposal, the project would rely primarily on private groundwater wells and a private wastewater plant. Sailfish’s proposal would have construction begin this year with data centers operating as soon as 2027.
However, based on commissioners' concerns, the court voted 4-1 to grant approval only on the condition that Sailfish provides the county with a more detailed plan. Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle voting against the conditional approval.
Hood County is already home to a Bitcoin mining center that has stirred controversy since its opening. Nearby residents have complained about ongoing noise pollution from the mining center, but the county says it cannot enact additional noise ordinances under state law.
Regardless, residents voiced their concerns about about noise pollution in their opposition to Sailfish’s proposal.
"When I hear this noise, my thoughts are, 'I get to pay property taxes to be audibly assaulted,'" said Hood County resident John Highsmith. "And my neighbors in Mitchell Bend suffer greatly from the constant noise. It's just a travesty."
The decision comes as more data centers continue to call Texas home. Microsoft recently filed paperwork for a $400 million investment into its own data center outside of San Antonio.
That investment can be attractive to smaller cities and rural areas like Hood County. Sailfish’s proposal claims the property could net up to 450 full time positions.
Data centers have come under scrutiny for their energy and water consumption, with some centers needing as much water and energy daily as cities like Plano, Frisco and Garland.
That massive consumption was top of mind for rancher Caroline Reeves.
"We need as humans water, air and food," Reeves told the commissioners. "These data centers are going to take our water. We're not gonna be able to feed our livestock. They're gonna affect us health-wise. They'll destroy us."
Others, like Amy Simmons, wanted to preserve the rural landscape residents believe is unique to cities like Granbury.
"We are rallying to keep clean air, our rural way of life that a lot of people move out to this area for," Simmons said. "It's the gateway to the Hill Country and we just want to preserve that beauty and the whole reason why people come to see it and stay and enjoy it."
Following executive session and public comments, the court decided to schedule meetings to discuss a a pause on new industrial developments in Hood County. But, as the county's outside council Blakely Fernandez explained, Sailfish's concept plan cannot be impacted by a moratorium since it was midway through its approval process.
Several residents and members of the commissioner's court pointed out that several other aspects of the plan were missing like sewage and water lines. Developers also had not submitted permits for water wells, leaving the plan without an exact figure for water consumption.
Ryan Hughes, managing partner at Sailfish Investors, urged the court to approve the concept plan and assured the court a final plan would be sent to the county at a later date, calling it a first step in a larger process.
"The concept plan checks the boxes, it's compliant with the existing Hood County standards and regulations at the time of submitting the concept plan, but it should indeed be improved," Hughes said. "All I'm asking is Hood County approves the concept plan today and let the project continue."
County Judge Ron Massingill told the rest of the court that because of a state-mandated timeline based on the concept plan's submission, they needed to make a decision Tuesday.
"There's certain ramifications," Massingill said. "We'd like to just go ahead and do what the people are saying here. We've got to do this legally. We've go to do it within the law and within the time limits. And we've got three things. Approve it, deny it, or conditionally approve it."
According to the courts conditions, Sailfish will need to better address its drainage plan, wastewater management, landscape impact, power generation, within 45 days. From there, the county will revisit the revised plan.
The first meeting about implementing a moratorium will take place Feb. 10.
Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Emmanuel at erivas@kera.org.
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