San Antonio City Council will vote Thursday on changes to city guidelines for data centers. Some community members have asked for stronger rules before more are built. A small protest formed at City Hall ahead of the meeting. One woman said the city should protect residents from the growth of data centers.
At an October 15 meeting, city staff gave council two options. The first would allow data centers automatically under set rules. Those rules would limit them to commercial and industrial areas, keep them at least 500 feet from buildings, homes and landscaping, and bar them from the Edwards Research Recharge zone. The second option would apply the same rules, but each project would come before council. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones described diesel generators she saw at a center that was 650 feet from a playground.
District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan has led the effort to require council approval for each center. He said it would let residents talk directly with developers. District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte said data centers should be regulated but also bring jobs and revenue, which he said matters during the city's budget deficit. Online data shows 89 data centers already exist in San Antonio.