With artificial intelligence data center construction on the rise, Lewisville recently passed legislation that bans the construction of data centers in residential areas and will allow residents to publicly share their concerns about data center proposals.
The Lewisville City Council unanimously approved a landmark ordinance on June 15 requiring AI data centers to obtain a special-use permit before building facilities in the city. The ordinance will also give residents the opportunity for public input on proposed data center construction.
“We welcome responsible growth, but our residents come first,” City Manager Claire Powell said in a news release. “Data centers can sometimes consume resources at a scale that can strain communities, and this ordinance ensures every proposal is assessed thoroughly before it is approved.”
The ordinance dictates that before a data center can open in the city, residents will have two formal opportunities to share opinions on the development before City Council accepts or rejects the data center proposal.
Residents can weigh in during public hearings before both the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council meetings, allowing for community input at multiple stages of review.
Although the city retains the power to accept, reject or modify the conditions of data center proposals, the public has the opportunity to provide feedback for consideration, Powell said.
Under the ordinance, data centers have been completely prohibited in residential areas. They will only be permitted in light industrial, warehouse and heavy industrial districts.
According to an email from the city, Lewisville’s high concentration of light industrial zoning and warehouse space “makes it a prime target for data center developers.”
City Planning Manager Vashil Fernandez told the Denton Record-Chronicle that Lewisville has not yet received inquiries from companies about building data centers, but that the City Council sought to put legislation in place before those requests came in.
“Across the country, there’s been an uptick in wanting to build data centers in different places,” Fernandez said. “Instead of being reactive, we wanted to be proactive and have [legislation] in place.”
Each special-use permit proposal will be evaluated on, among other things, its compatibility with surrounding uses and community facilities. Compatibility will consider factors such as water and electrical infrastructure capacity, noise levels and environmental impact.
The city also maintains the ability to attach conditions to any permit approval to ensure impacts on the surrounding properties are addressed before construction starts.
Across the state, residents have been vocal about the influx of data centers, in part due to concerns about increased energy and water consumption and quality-of-life issues.
Denton, which is considering a temporary moratorium on data centers, currently has two centers: Core Scientific’s hyperscale center and QumulusAI’s planned modular data center.
On June 16, the day after Lewisville passed its ordinance, the San Marcos City Council passed its own legislation related to AI data centers.
With a narrow 4-3 approval, San Marcos banned data centers within city limits. This decision came in spite of Mayor Jane Hughson’s previous opposition to completely prohibiting data centers.
Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott released several regulatory recommendations for statewide data center construction and usage.
These recommendations include:
- Requiring new facilities to add power generation to the state’s power grid
- Requiring the use of “closed-loop” water systems, which draw a sizable amount of water at the start but reuse it over a period of years
- Requiring that data centers pay for their own grid interconnection and infrastructure costs
- Repealing data center sales tax exemptions and “other outdated or unnecessary incentives for data centers”
- Mandating annual reporting of electricity and water use by all data centers
- Creating best-practice standards to address community concerns
Texas is expected to be a major hub for data centers in the near future, but a majority of Texans oppose them, according to a recent poll from the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project.
Whether or not they agree, Fernandez said Lewisville’s new ordinance will ensure that residents have a voice in the data center conversation.
“This gives us the opportunity to continue being responsible with the resources we have,” Fernandez said. “But, also, it gives the opportunity to get public input when something like this does come about, if it ever comes about.”
CAMILA GONZALEZ can be reached at 940-566-6830 and cgonzalez@dentonrc.com.
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