Over a dozen residents filled the room at the Wilmer city chambers last month during a meeting about all the industry moving into town. Up until recently, Wilmer and the surrounding area were one of the last undeveloped parts of Dallas County – but that’s quickly changing.
Newly elected city council member Moses Garcia pointed to a birdseye map of the city, which will soon be home to two new data centers now under construction.
In recent years, Wilmer, population 7,000, has become a hub for shipping and logistics facilities. Large swaths of the town are zoned industrial, home to distribution centers for companies like Sprouts and Unilever. Now, data centers – drawn in by the ample open space to build – are looking to move in.
Garcia said the city is at a crossroads.
“We're just gonna be data centers," Garcia said. "There's no room for grocery stores. There's no room for future buildings, for homes and development, a community.”
Infrastructure vs. industry
Cecil White and her husband Darak have lived in Wilmer for about a year – they moved there for the peace and quiet.
“That, like, community feeling, while still being close to, you know, Dallas so that we can move around,” White said.
What they don’t like is they have to drive out of town to get groceries and they don’t have a city park nearby.
“It's just a bunch of warehouses, but nothing's really being built for the citizens,” she said.
She and other residents at the meeting said they’d rather see the city focus on improving amenities instead of bringing in new data centers.
“I want a grocery store, I want the streets fixed, I want the water lines fixed,” said Glenda Hefner.
Garcia – who ran on a platform against data center growth – said for a long time, the city didn’t invest much in infrastructure.
"I've been here since 1973. I haven't seen anything," Garcia said. "Where's all our tax dollars going?"
City and county leaders say infrastructure improvements will follow the industry – though they disagree on how.
Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins has taken note of the explosive growth in Southeast Dallas county, but said he'd rather see manufacturing move in.
“That's how you get your grocery stores, your dry cleaners, your restaurants, because those folks have that disposable income,” Jenkins said. "Data centers don't have a lot of living wage jobs on a permanent basis."
Wilmer mayor Sheila Petta has been in office throughout the industrial boom. She said the two new data center facilities could bring in up to $3 million dollars in revenue for the city every year.
"I've got citizens that are complaining about our streets. I agree with them 100%," Petta said. "With this money that could possibly be coming into Wilmer, we can get a lot done.”
‘Opposite sides of the fence’
Petta said the industry can be part of the solution to some of the city's problems — and that companies coming to Wilmer are willing to help the community they're joining.
Stream Data Centers is one of the developers building a facility in the town. Chief development officer Oisin Murchu said they’ve already contributed to Wilmer through "community impact" initiatives that included a citywide cleanup, career day at a local school and other volunteering events.
"We're working with the city to increase the amount of public trash and recycling cans that are available around the city as well," Murchu said. "We are definitely open to infrastructure investments."
He’s aware of the pushback from residents but said the company wants to engage with the city constructively.
“Our only ask for everybody is like, let's sit down together and put a solution together versus feel like we are on opposite sides of the fence,” Murchu said.
Residents like Glenda Hefner say they don’t want to wait for improvements that are supposed to follow.
“I'm not against those new buildings, but do what's first,” Hefner said. "The infrastructure should have been fixed first."
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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