Zoning authority could be the answer to data center woes, as San Marcos becomes the first Texas city to ban data centers

• San Marcos councilors have approved new zoning laws that ban data centers
• The same zoning laws could be used by 352 cities across Texas
• But there are a few hurdles to jump through before anyone can celebrate

San Marcos may have just answered the main question surrounding data center construction in US cities - how do we prevent it?

Well, it turns out that simply defining what a data center is and then excluding their construction from zoning codes may have been the answer cities across the US have been looking for.

That is exactly what the San Marcos City Council did, voting 4-3 on June 16 to ban the construction of data centers within the city limits on the basis that they would deprive the local population of water and energy resources.

San Marcos bans data centers

The San Marcos City Council feared that new data centers would encroach on the city limits, with two new projects being proposed just outside of the city in unincorporated parts of Hays County.

Banning data centers at the county level is a hurdle multiple councilors have attempted to jump across the US with little effect — a problem Hays county councilors have encountered following the introduction of a non-legally binding data center development pause.

San Marcos may be a case to watch, as it will likely see opposition from data center development groups and legal challenges from representatives such as state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who commented on the city council’s decision stating, “They should not use zoning to ban anything everywhere in the city, because that’s not lawful under the state of Texas guidelines. [A ban] doesn’t work here, and this will get challenged.”

There are other cities in Texas with similar levels of control over zoning — 352 to be exact — that will be following the legal challenge against this ruling closely because, if it is successful, it will set a precedent for other cities across the state to ban data centers within city limits.

The experts certainly believe that the San Marcos moratorium could pass, with Robert Paterson, a professor at the University of Texas in Austin stating, “theoretically, I think the courts could uphold it.”

But the main obstacle to both San Marcos ban and the wider Hays County pause is the 2023 Death Star law, which prevents local law from overriding state law.

Elsewhere in the US, both representatives and citizens are using whatever action they can take to oppose local data center construction projects, with around half of US data centers planned for 2026 canceled or delayed. Local councilors are losing their jobs after approving data center projects against their constituent’s wishes, and data centers will be a key issue during the upcoming midterm elections.

Smaller cities with less power to control zoning are instead making it as difficult as possible to build a data center within city limits, rather than banning them outright, in order to skirt around regulations on construction bans and moratoriums.

Via Texas Tribune