The Wichita Falls City Council on Tuesday turned down a request to rezone land in the north part of the city to accommodate construction of a data center.
The 117 acres of open land is sandwiched between Interstate Highway 44, Spur 325 and Airport Drive. The applicants proposed nine two-story structures, each totaling 150,000 square feet.
The City Council vote to reject the rezoning request was unanimous. Councilor Robert Brooks was absent from the meeting.
Councilor Austin Cobb asked if the applicants, Data Nov X, were the end developers.
“We were not the end developers,” attorney Brad Altman, who is listed as an applicant for the zoning change, said.
Altman said the applicants had been in “a lot of discussions” with end developers but could not name any because of nondisclosure agreements.
“You’re flipping this?” Mayor Tim Short asked.
“Yeah, we’re getting the land prepared,” Altman replied.
Cobb asked if the group had received approval from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Altman said they had applied, but “there’s a lot of stuff moneywise with ERCOT.”
Short asked how traffic would be mitigated in the area.
“That seems like that’s going to be a nightmare,” the mayor said..
Will Pender of Data Nova X said 400 to 500 workers would be working during construction, which would be staggered over years.
“It seems like less than an ideal spot,” Short said.
Pender said a traffic study would be done, and it was likely that workers would be bused to the site.
Councilor Mike Battaglino asked if officials at Sheppard Air Force Base had been consulted.
“We have not talked to anyone with the Air Force at the base,” Altman said.
Councilor Tom Taylor, whose district includes much of north Wichita Falls, said he is concerned about people who live in the area and the large volume of traffic already in the vicinity of the Air Force base.
Councilor Jeff Browing said he was “100% pro data centers” but had been getting a lot of calls from constituents.
“I wish we could maybe see a refit of this,” he said.
Cobb said he was also a “pro data center guy” but was bothered by “the flipping part.”
“The fact is, we don’t know who we’re going to be doing business with,” he said.
Councilor Whitney Flack expressed concerns about lighting pollution in the area.
Short said he had concerns about the entire project.
“I think the location is a nightmare,” he said. “It feels like it’s fitting a square peg into a round hole.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls City Council rejects data center rezoning
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
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