Developer Black Mountain is asking the Fort Worth City Council to approve rezoning of additional land for inclusion in a development that includes a data center.
Amanda McCoy
amccoy@star-telegram.com
The developer of a planned $10 billion data center in southeast Fort Worth has hit a speed bump in the rezoning of land for what could become one of the largest data center campuses in the metroplex.
Black Mountain, a Fort Worth-based energy consortium, has successfully petitioned the city to rezone roughly 431 acres of land in the southeast corner of the city near Forest Hill and Everman.
At the Fort Worth City Council meeting Feb. 10, Black Mountain was scheduled to ask the city to rezone another roughly 80 acres of land in two separate requests.
One of those requests is for about 42 acres on the east side of Anglin Drive near the Forest Hill city line. That request was rescheduled after leaders in nearby cities asked for a discussion with council member Chris Nettles, who represents that part of Fort Worth. The other request, for about 38 acres east of Anglin Drive and north of Everman Kennedale Road, was previously approved by the Zoning Commission.
Bob Riley, a consultant with Richardson-based Halff, who is working on behalf of Black Mountain, told council members that Black Mountain met with city leaders in Everman and Forest Hill on Feb. 4.
After Riley spoke to the Fort Worth council members Feb. 10, Nettles and District 11 council member Jeanette Martinez said the council needs more information before it can approve the zoning cases.
“I just don’t feel comfortable supporting this zoning case, because I don’t know enough about data centers and how concentration of those centers would impact our infrastructure and resources,” Martinez said.
Nettles agreed with Martinez, and said he wants to see more information about Black Mountain’s plans.
“I need real clarity on what the whole complex is going to look like, how many buildings, before we approve these last two lots,” Nettles said. Riley agreed to provide those details for the council.
Mayor Mattie Parker told the council it will receive a report on data centers from city staff on March 3. The council approved a motion to postpone both zoning cases until its March 10 meeting.
If these two requests are later approved, the city of Fort Worth will have approved the rezoning of over 500 acres for Black Mountain’s data center.
Meta’s data center in north Fort Worth is on a 170-acre site. Another north Fort Worth data center, which was approved for earth grading work recently, will be on 107 acres.
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Emily Holshouser is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.