SAN MARCOS, Texas — Halfway between Austin and San Antonio, a battle has been playing out in the San Marcos City Council over data center development. The city passed a ban on these projects on June 16.
When items related to data centers are being discussed at San Marcos City Hall, it gets so packed that people spill out into the outdoor area, most expressing opposition to these projects. It’s this pressure that ultimately led city leaders to pass the ban.
“It was a big surprise,” said San Marcos City Council member Amanda Rodriguez.
The Central Texas city has become the first in the state to fully prohibit the data center industry, with Council member Lorenzo Gonzalez flipping and voting in favor of the ban.
He said in a Facebook post, “… after listening to residents and learning more about the issue, I ultimately concluded that the promised benefits remained speculative while many community concerns remained unresolved.”
“I think it’s important for us as colleagues to hold each other accountable and remind one another who our real bosses are, and that’s the people,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is the one who originally brought the amendment forward to the council.
“I think it’s just truly a testament to all of the knowledge that we continue to get both by our community members, by people who would call in, who care about these issues, and I’m happy to see where it turned out,” Rodriguez said.
Abigail Lindsey is a concerned resident who has a new neighbor, the Cloudburst Data Center, across the street from her home on the border of San Marcos and New Braunfels.
“I’m really worried about sound,” Lindsey said. “I just… I can’t fathom it.”
The center broke ground last year. The ban won’t stop this project, but Lindsey is among the residents who joined the effort to halt data center development in the city alongside the Data Center Action Coalition, which has been mobilizing in the community.
“We did a number of panel discussions and info sessions and things like this and started to kind of slowly bring more people into the organizing, having monthly orientations,” said Si Frede with the coalition.
Residents have brought forward their concerns — ranging from water and power use to noise pollution — to city leaders.
“It starts with people and communities getting together, protesting, doing petitions, coming together, going to these meetings, and then people start to notice, then city council starts to notice,” Lindsey said.
For the city council member celebrating a win for the efforts to halt data center expansion in San Marcos, she has some advice for other cities.
“The hope is, is that they can look at what we did to emulate, and even if it’s not a full out ban, those stipulations… such as noise, setbacks and so on, that they can consider those too,” Rodriguez said.