Westlake approves construction on data center near Keller border

WESTLAKE, Texas - Westlake has approved construction on a data center near its border with Keller after months of debate and a protracted legal battle.

Westlake Data Center construction approved

What we know:

On Thursday, November 12, Westlake's City Council unanimously approved a measure to allow a 1.1 million-square-foot data center to be built in the city.

The data center complex will be built near Westlake's border with Keller, something that has been at the center of a monthslong debate between the two cities.

Keller residents said they were not given proper notice about the development, which would be near Keller's Marshall Ridge neighborhood.

The City of Keller filed for a temporary injunction to halt any further development. That injunction expired in late September.

On November 5, Keller and Westlake announced they had reached an agreement in their legal battle over the data center. 

Keller says the agreement will allow the city to enforce noise limits, and will create quarterly noise monitoring for the first three years of the data center's operations.

The agreement also includes landscaping requirements, emissions controls, and a contribution to Keller Fire-Rescue.

Westlake leaders defends data center

What they're saying:

At Thursday's Westlake City Council meeting, some speakers accused the city's leaders of not being transparent during the process.

"You call this responsible growth and responsible local decision-making. I prefer to call it what it is. A big stinking pile of BS.

Westlake leaders say the data center is part of the cost of growth.

"Yes, residents may bear slightly higher electricity costs, but we're going to keep costs in other ways because of the additional revenue."

Some Keller residents still unhappy

Josh Rabe, a Keller resident who lives in Marshall Ridge, says his neighborhood still isn't happy with Keller's settlement allowing the data center to be built.

"In the end, they’re basically saying, ‘Okay, we’ll build a little bit higher of a berm, and we’ll monitor the noise.’ If they actually monitor and actually do anything, or if anything changes, nobody has any faith in the developer or Westlake to enforce anything."

Rabe once again performed an anti-data center song at Thursday's Westlake City Council meeting, as he has in the past.

"Everybody in the country, our new governor, is looking to slow down on data centers and Westlake only wants to speed things up," Rabe continued. "What little I can do, I will do."

Big picture view:

Data centers were a hot political topic during the midterm elections.

Gov. Greg Abbott shifted course after initially welcoming data centers to Texas, pushing to slow development by requiring resource audits before new permits are issued.

Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic challenger who unseated Abbott, has called for an immediate moratorium on data centers until the Texas Legislature can meet.

What's next:

Keller says it will work with Hinojosa on statewide discussions surrounding data center regulation.

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