Fort Worth asks landowner to remove data center use from zoning request

Fort Worth city officials are actively pushing back against data center developments, as evidenced by a recent request for developers to remove data center usage from a rezoning application for 184 acres in west Fort Worth. The application, submitted by Fort Worth-based Westwood Professional Services for land held by the John Henry Dean & Shirley Lawson Foundation and Dallas-based Standridge Companies, proposes rezoning two parcels at the intersection of FM 1187 and Interstate 20 for a mix of intensive commercial, light industrial, and dense residential uses. Initially, data centers were listed as a permissible use for one of the parcels. However, Fort Worth District 3 council member Michael Crain revealed that he personally requested the property owners' representative to formally eliminate all data center uses from the site, a request to which the developers have agreed. A letter from Westwood to the Fort Worth Zoning Commission confirms the landowners' intent to continue the item to the May 13 meeting and remove data centers from the allowed uses. This local action mirrors a broader trend in North Texas, where a surge of data center projects is encountering growing concern and opposition from residents. The Fort Worth City Council recently postponed a vote on a substantial tax agreement for a data center slated for west Fort Worth near Benbrook and had previously deferred a decision on another data center planned near Forest Hill and Everman. Council member Crain has since tasked city staff with compiling an informal report on data centers, indicating a city-wide reevaluation of these developments amid public and council questions regarding their community impact.