San Antonio is changing the rules for where data centers can be built, with city leaders voting to add new public review and City Council approval requirements as the industry grows and neighborhood concerns mount.

City Council approved new regulations that will require proposed data centers to go through a public review process and get council approval. The vote follows months of debate over how San Antonio should handle the expanding data center industry. For years, some data centers could move forward in certain zoning areas without a City Council vote or a public meeting, but that will change under the new rules.

San Antonio is changing the rules for where data centers can be built, with city leaders voting to add new public review and City Council approval requirements as the industry grows and neighborhood concerns mount. (SBG San Antonio)

Data centers, which support services such as streaming, online banking and artificial intelligence, have become a flashpoint in discussions about jobs, water and energy use, and the impact on nearby communities.

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District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan, whose district has many of the city’s data centers, said the new requirements will increase transparency and community involvement.

“Every single data center that is proposed to come to San Antonio must come to council, must have a public meeting, must showcase the full site plan, must communicate on emergency plans, and make sure that there is clear coordination with the community and with council on how this data center will come to our city,” Galvan said.

Not all council members supported the new requirements, which limit where data centers can be built and require proposed projects to go before City Council for approval. District 9’s councilwoman argued that opposition to data centers conflicts with the technology many residents use daily.

“I encourage you to understand that if you’re against data centers, then you will then have to look at stopping using any social media. You can’t use any AI ChatGPT you’ve got to stop streaming Netflix and YouTube,” she said.

Supporters of the new rules said their concerns center on data centers’ demands on water and electricity, along with noise, air quality and property values. Resident Serena Moreno criticized the industry’s potential impacts.

“The same data centers that some are advocating for right now are the same data centers that are going to rob us, all of us of our water, our health, our privacy, our safety,” Moreno said.

Others warned that too many restrictions could push investment elsewhere, arguing the industry can bring jobs and tax revenue to San Antonio. Resident Chelsea Norris said data center investment changed her life.

“Data center investment helped open the door for me when I needed it most. That door led me from homelessness to home ownership, from uncertainty to stability, and from searching for a purpose to building a future,” Norris said.

While the vote is complete, the debate is not. City officials still must determine how the new rules will be put into practice and how they will address community concerns. Projects that already have approval may still move forward, but the city will need to determine how the changes affect projects still in the approval process.