WESTLAKE, Texas
The Town of Westlake’s planning and zoning commission unanimously approved Aug. 4 an 87.9-acre site plan for a 1.1 million-square-foot data center complex slated for Westlake near the Keller border, as a crowd full of Keller residents packed the Council Chamber to voice their opposition to the data center.
The commissioners voted to approve the site plan because the data center is allowed by right on that site.
The vote included provisions to have sound barriers installed along the southern side of the property and to also install sound walls or sound louvers around all air conditioning units and to make sure there is visual screening along the entire southern wing of the data center.
News of the Westlake data center campus has caused quite a stir in the Westlake/Keller area, with both areas’ city officials going back-and-forth about when each city knew about the data center plans, and area residents concerned about the data center’s proximity to schools and neighborhoods.
The public comment section of Tuesday night’s planning and zoning commission meeting was full of Keller residents wanting answers. More than a hundred people packed the meeting, questioning why Westlake did not give enough notice to area residents, calling the lack of transparency “unneighborly.”
Keller and some Westlake residents pleaded with the planning and zoning commissioners to hold off on approving the site plan for the data center until more information is available.
Public comments 
Angry Keller residents shouted at planning and zoning officials and city staff over the vote to pass the site plan. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com
During parts of the commission discussion, many attendees shouted “Shame!” and expressed their disappointment with the vote. The discussion came after the commission went into closed session to discuss the legalities of the site plan and data center.
Comments like “Y’all are disgusting” and “Unbelievable, how neighborly of you” were shouted out by attendees after the vote.
Former Westlake planning commissioner Linda Bjorn told the audience that they should attend the next Westlake city council meeting since the city council has the final decision-making authority.
Former Westlake Planning and Zoning commissioner Linda Bjorn addressed the board about the lack of transparency about the data center. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com
Former Keller Mayor Mark Mathews, whose home is near the proposed data center site, told the Star-Telegram after the vote that he was not surprised and that the next step is to look at legal options to oppose the data center.
Josh Rabe, who lives in Marshall Ridge, the neighborhood closest to the proposed site, said he thinks the citizens of Keller and others from his neighborhood made it clear what their concerns are from a scientific and personal viewpoint, but that the commission did not take that into consideration.
‘We’re asking you to move it’
Keller resident Kevin Myers said he isn’t against data centers, nor is he an environmentalist, but he wanted the commission to table the proposal until more research could be completed. Myers and others echoed the potential loss of property value that a data center could cause.
Ben Buckwalter, another Marshall Ridge resident, asked if this was the best location that Westlake could find and why the data center wasn’t closer to Westlake.
“We’re not asking you to kill this project, we are asking you to move it,” Buckwalkter said. “Hillwood is owned by billionaires, they have plenty of land. So work with Hillwood, please move it, build it, just don’t build it next to our homes, don’t build it next to our elementary school.”
Buckwalter questioned why the project was not shared earlier: “Good projects don’t need secrecy. If it is a really good project, show us.”
Sarah Hudson, a nun at the Wat Buddharatanaram, a Buddhist monastery in Keller close to the data center, said that she was concerned that the data center would disrupt the serenity of the monastery and warned that it could become a religious liberty issue.
“When there is a company that’s wanting to come in, and that will have a negative impact on the surroundings, that includes us,” Hudson told the Star-Telegram. “So, if we are no longer able to provide a peaceful environment for others, that’s then encroaching on our First Amendment right.”
Keller neighborhoods and schools
Keller school board candidate Barbara Brewer previously told the Star-Telegram that she spent this past weekend block-walking and asking residents in the Lakes at Marshall Ridge neighborhood to sign a petition requesting that the Westlake Planning and Zoning Commission and the town council “postpone approving the data center because of concerns that it will adversely affect the homeowners.”
The Marshall Ridge community has hired an attorney to represent them in their fight against the proposed data center. Brewer organized a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for legal fees.
According to Brewer, the residents are moving quickly to mobilize before ground is broken on the property. Brewer said residents have already seen surveyors out on the land.
Stephanie Rodriguez, the mother of two Ridgeview Elementary students, told the Star-Telegram ahead of the meeting that she is worried about how close to the school the proposed data center is and wonders if Westlake was able to move it a safe distance away from their homes and schools, why the same isn’t being done for Keller residents.
“We do not know the health impact these centers can cause, and I am not willing to volunteer my children to be the guinea pigs based off of another city’s decision to place it in our city line within yards of our school with young children,” Rodriguez said. “Perhaps they can consider moving it safely away from both their school and neighboring schools.”
Rodriguez also worries about what the data center would mean for the Marshall Ridge community.
“Our children wouldn’t only be affected during the school day—they would be living next to this facility every day and every night,” Rodriguez said. “We worry about the cumulative impacts on our neighborhood, including noise, lighting, traffic and the loss of the peaceful residential character that drew us here in the first place.”
Keller ISD told the Star-Telegram that they had no comment on the data center at this time.
What we know about the Westlake data center 
Rendering of the proposed Circle T Data Center at 13580 Denton Highway in Westlake. Courtesy of The Town of Westlake
A multi-building, 1.1-million-square-foot data center complex is proposed for vacant land along Denton Highway in Westlake, which straddles Tarrant and Denton counties. A spokesperson for the Town of Westlake told the Star-Telegram the data center, at 13580 Denton Highway, will sit on 87.9 acres and will include four buildings, with a total of 1.1 million square feet.
Data center developments can range from a few dozen acres to several hundred acres or more. Meta’s data center in north Fort Worth sits on roughly 170 acres and 2.5 million square feet. According to Tarrant Appraisal District records, the data center will be located on land owned by an LP located at 9800 Hillwood Parkway Suite 300, which is associated with Hillwood.
The Town of Westlake said in a statement Saturday, Aug. 1 that protecting neighboring residents would be a priority throughout the planning process for building the data center campus.
Specifically, according to the Aug. 1 statement, Westlake committed to working with the developer to:
Position the facility as far north on the property as possible, exceeding the planned development’s required setback, andEnsure the facility complies with Westlake’s noise ordinance, “which is more stringent than those of many neighboring communities.”
Westlake also said the developer, Virginia-based Powerhouse, agreed to “enhancements” that exceed requirements in the current ordinances.
The enhancements include:
A landscaped berm along U.S. Highway 377A minimum 75-foot landscape buffer along the southern property lineMature vegetation planted throughout the berm and surrounding landscape to further screen the facility and enhance sound attenuationAn increased building setback beyond what is required under the planned development standards to further improve buffering
The closest Keller residence will be approximately 506 feet from the building line, with the enhanced landscaping, berm and increased setbacks providing additional separation.
A rendering of the new, 1.1-million-square-foot data center is planned for Westlake, close to Highway 377. Town of Westlake Statewide guidance on data centers
Gov. Greg Abbott released a directive Aug. 3 to the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ordering the agencies to conduct an audit of data centers before anymore can be approved.
Abbott wants the agencies to obtain the information from each data center project about how they plan to pay for their centers, how where or how they will be getting their power, including the projection for peak consumption of resources, how and where the data centers will be getting their water from, the impacts on nearby communities quality of life and more.
Before the commissioners voted Tuesday night, Chairman Terry Wilkinson said that he walked both the Westlake site and the Meta data center site in north Fort Worth, and said that while there was noise at the Meta site, that the areas that had sound berms were quiet. He asked if Powerhouse would agree to berms, sound walls or louvers to reduce noise emissions. Powerhouse said they would consider adding them.
Jeff Parsons, Powerhouse’s senior vice president of development and construction, said at the planning and zoning meeting that the proposed plans took legislation into consideration.
Zaid Arzate, Powerhouse’s director of development and data center construction, said that even before Abbott’s directives, their plan met those requirements.
“We are already in compliance when we’re talking about the power and water use, the community impact and infrastructure cost,” Arzate said.
Jeff Parsons, Powerhouse’s senior vice president of development and construction, and Zaid Arzate, Powerhouse’s director of development and data center construction, addresses the planning and zoning commissioners and audience with information about the plans for the data centers. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com
Julie Waters, who runs the Texans United Against Data Centers Facebook group, said at the meeting that they want the governor to call a special session to address the issue.
“I’ve been in rural Texas a lot. Now I’m here in the suburbs. No one wants a data center,” Waters said.
Star-Telegram reporter Emily Holshouser contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 5, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
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With my guide dog Freddie, I keep tabs on growth, economic development and other issues in Northeast Tarrant cities and other communities near Fort Worth. I’ve been a reporter at the Star-Telegram for 34 years.
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Fousia Abdullahi is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram news reporter who covers suburban cities including Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine and Keller. She enjoys reading and attending local events. Send tips by email or phone.