City leaders gave the green light to a site plan for the $10 billion data center that has for months garnered criticism and backlash from southeast Fort Worth residents.
Fort Worth City Council voted 7-4 Tuesday for an amended site plan that accounts for 187 acres of the project headed by Black Mountain.
The language in the plan presented in Tuesday’s docket requested the addition of an electrical substation, a maximum building height increase to 70 feet and a maximum distance requirement of 150 feet between the facility and homes.
At the requests of council members Michael Crain and Chris Nettles, the vote was made to approve the site plan and amend the zoning item’s language to reflect a maximum distance of 300 feet between homes and the data center.
Black Mountain CEO Rhett Bennett prefaced the vote by stating the buildings in the revised blueprint are already more than 300 feet away from homes.
Tuesday’s vote came after the site plan was twice tabled by the council; it was originally scheduled for votes in May and June.
In addition to the substation, the 187-acre blueprint includes four buildings that will serve as the data center’s campus, located south of Lon Stephenson Road, east of Forest Hill Drive and west of Anglin Drive.
This is a change from the first draft of the plan, which originally called for 18 buildings encompassing 3 million square feet. The four buildings now account for just over a million square feet in ground space and are separated from homes with trees and green space.
Building heights were originally planned to max out at 55 feet. The new height of 70 feet reduced the development’s land use by 50%, according to a presentation.
“What we’re here for today is to vote on a site plan that I think is most appropriate for the neighborhood given that the acreage has already been rezoned,” Bennett said. “I think it’s important that we get this right.”
Emerald Khan, a local business owner, expressed her support for the newly presented plan to council members.
“I support the better plan … and pair it with measurable local business engagement,” Khan said. “Fort Worth is a city where large investments and small enterprises grow together.”
While some echoed Khan’s support for the new plan, citing increased job opportunities and tax dollars for local schools, other speakers remained wary of the data center.
Ambika Sharma, a community activist who’s pushed for a moratorium, urged council members to table the vote until after the city’s newly formed Data Center and Infrastructure Commission provides regulations crafted by its members.
“I understand that you’re also financially investing in that,” Sharma said. “So if we’re going to make investment in soliciting expert opinions and expert suggestions, let’s wait for those suggestions to be provided.”
Before casting a vote, council member Mia Hall said she has struggled to find a balance with making a decision on Black Mountain given her support for a moratorium but also how far along the data center is in permitting.
“This is about a site plan,” Hall said. “For me, I always want to represent the people that are most impacted. … I can’t stop a data center from being there. To me, the most important part is to provide the protections or the site plan that is least intrusive, I guess, to the people it’s going to be the most proximate to.”
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
The Report’s environment coverage is supported by the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation.
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