Killeen council votes to broach data center subject as future agenda item

The Killeen City Council has unanimously voted to add data center zoning and regulations to a future agenda, with discussions slated to begin in September after budget deliberations are complete. Councilwoman Mellisa Brown initiated the motion, advocating for serious, in-depth discussions at the local level.

Initially, Councilman David Bass expressed reservations, noting Governor Greg Abbott's statewide pause on data center construction in Texas due to power requirements and impending legislative discussions. Bass suggested that local regulations might be rendered useless if the state enacts its own rules. However, Councilwoman Debbie Nash-King countered, emphasizing the need for Killeen to establish its own regulatory framework.

Brown clarified that local actions, such as requiring conditional-use permits, would not interfere with state-level decisions, and state discussions could span years. The issue of data centers is gaining national and state attention, with Texas rapidly catching up to Virginia in data center density. Locally, Killeen has seen significant opposition, with city candidates largely against data centers. This sentiment was evident when the Killeen Planning and Zoning Commission rejected a data center application in April, prompting the developers to withdraw their proposal from city council consideration.