Hood County data center fight escalates with lawsuit dismissal, recall petition
A judge dismissed a lawsuit against Hood County that aimed to force the approval of two proposed data centers. Simultaneously, Granbury residents initiated recall petitions against their mayor and city council members over the city's handling of data center projects and land annexation.
The data center conflict in Hood County, Texas, has intensified on two fronts. In the legal arena, a judge dismissed a lawsuit against Hood County that sought to compel the approval of two proposed large-scale data centers. County Commissioner Nanette Samuelson, a named party in the suit, commented that the dismissal brought clarity, noting that nine to ten major projects spanning over 8,000 acres are currently proposed in the county.
The developer behind the lawsuit argued that Hood County had missed a legal deadline, which should have resulted in an automatic approval of the project. They highlighted the potential for billions in tax revenue and thousands of jobs for Texas. Despite the dismissal, the developer retains the option to appeal the decision, though they did not provide a comment.
Concurrently, in the city of Granbury, citizens have launched recall petitions against the mayor and several city council members. Resident Dan Fauber, who lives near a proposed data center site, expressed the community's frustration, stating the need to communicate their discontent to local politicians whose jobs are now at risk. The city of Granbury clarified that it has not yet approved any data center and annexed the land in question to impose its own municipal regulations, which the county could not. The city declined to comment on the recall petitions. These two ongoing disputes underscore the unresolved data center debate within Hood County.