SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Every new data center proposed inside San Antonio will now need a public hearing and a City Council vote. Council members approved the tougher rules 9-2 on Thursday, also limiting the facilities to heavy commercial and industrial zones.
The vote landed exactly one year after District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan asked city staff to study regulating the industry. Galvan says his Northwest Side district holds most of the city’s data centers, and he said the new process forces developers to lay out full site plans and emergency plans in front of residents.
Until now, the city code had no separate category for data centers. They were treated as office data processing, which let them go up in most non-residential areas without a council vote.
City staff had pitched a softer option that would have allowed data centers by right in industrial areas if they stayed at least 500 feet from homes, schools and daycares, kept buildings 50 feet from property lines and avoided the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. The council instead chose case-by-case approval, which lets members attach extra conditions to each project.
District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears and District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte cast the two no votes. Spears argued that residents who oppose data centers still rely on the streaming, banking and AI services those facilities power. Supporters pointed to the strain the sites put on local water and electricity, and the rules now take effect for any project that comes forward.
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