Keller residents packed the Westlake Town Council meeting on Aug. 17 in opposition of the proposed data center close to their neighborhood.
Fousia Abdullahi
fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com
A Tarrant County judge Monday, Aug. 17 temporarily blocked the Town of Westlake from voting on a development agreement for the highly-opposed Circle T data center, which would be built on a site near the Keller border. As such, Westlake Town Council decided to table any vote on the development until Aug. 26.
The temporary restraining order was announced minutes before Westlake held a special meeting at 4 p.m. to vote on the development agreement for the 1.1 million-square-foot data center complex, which would be located off Highway 377. Westlake announced the data center at the end of July. The proposed data center complex is on a parcel of vacant land along Denton Highway in Westlake, which straddles Tarrant and Denton counties.
Watch playback of the Aug. 17 meeting here. The council was in closed session with the city attorney from 6:02 p.m.-6:25 p.m. Public comment, most of it from Keller residents, lasted for more than an hour-and-a-half, and included a song one Keller resident wrote about the data center. The crowd of Keller residents broke out into applause as the meeting adjourned.
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Westlake Mayor Kim Greaves told the Star-Telegram he had no comment, but he respects the court’s order.
Minutes before the meeting was set to start at 4 p.m., former Keller mayor Armin Mizani posted on Facebook about the temporary restraining order. The TRO is partially based on claims from the Marshall Ridge HOA in Keller and two Westlake residents who say Westlake didn’t give proper public notice about the December 2024 planning and zoning action and January 2025 town council action about the data center.
The plaintiffs said in the TRO that moving forward with the project would cause “imminent and irreparable harm” to nearby residential property. Keller residents, especially those who live in the Marshall Ridge subdivision, are concerned about the possible impacts to their health, property value and quality of life if the data center is built so close to them.
Keller Mayor Ross McMullin also posted on Facebook about the TRO before the meeting, saying “The city of Keller will continue to review its options as Westlake’s proposed data center works its way through the courts process.”
“Now the courts have intervened to temporarily halt any further action related to Westlake’s proposed data center,” McMullin said after the meeting. “We will continue to stand alongside our residents in seeking answers and pursuing meaningful protections for the community.”
What people said at the Westlake Town Council meeting
Keller resident Josh Rabe performed a song during his three minutes of open comment at the Westlake Town Council meeting. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com
Josh Rabe, a Marshall Ridge father of four, played a “dumb song” he wrote about the data center during his three minutes of public comment at the meeting. Sample lyrics: “Westlake, Texas is building a data center/Let’s put it somewhere good/How ‘bout on top of that crappy city’s little neighborhood?”
“I don’t do that out of disrespect or jest,” Rabe said. “… Fact is that you could build this further, you just don’t want to. There is nothing stopping you from building this further down the highway.”
Keller City Council Members Greg Will and Charles Randklev also attended Westlake’s meeting.
Will said he was disappointed with the statements that Westlake made about Keller.
“Pointing fingers does nothing to address the very real concerns for these families, who live only hundreds of feet away from this proposed development,” Will said. “These residents aren’t political talking points. They are our neighbors, they are families who invested in their homes and community, and they deserve answers, respect and substantive voice in the conversation.”
Greaves said the property has already been designated for use.
“Our responsibility now tonight is how this project is developed and how we protect our residents and our neighbors,” Greaves said. “This means strict, manageable and enforceable standards for noise, water, power, emissions, landscaping, screening, our Westlake dark sky policy, infrastructure, emergency operations and holding the developer accountable.”
Donald Trost, a Marshall Ridge resident, said the council should not use the “permitted by right” designation to overlook the responsibility Westlake has for the decision to approve the data center.
“If the town’s own decision helped create the legal constraints this council now relies upon, then you have a responsibility to exhaust every lawful way around that constraint before asking neighboring families to live with the consequences,” Trost said.
Lindsey Jones, a Keller resident who said she lives just 500 feet from the proposed data center, said one of her two sons is autistic and is bothered by noises.
“If the homes sitting next to this project belonged to you, if these were your children sleeping just a few 100 yards away, would you approve it? Jones said. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you would put your children to bed next to this every night.”
Rendering of the proposed Circle T Data Center at 13580 Denton Highway in Westlake. Courtesy of The Town of Westlake
Next steps
Jeff Parsons, Powerhouse’s senior vice president of development and construction, said that he would share the data from its noise monitoring with Westlake, but stopped short of agreeing to Westlake having their own noise monitoring devices around the data center. Powerhouse said that it could look into doing an acoustic study for a full year and report every quarter to get a full range of what the range of noises were during every season.
Westlake Town Manager Wade Carroll told the council that they could independently pay for and monitor devices instead of relying on the developer to provide the information.
Powerhouse previously agreed to include enhancements to help with sound and visibility, including:
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
This story was originally published August 17, 2026 5:45 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Jake Harris is the Service Journalism Editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has spent nearly 10 years working as a digital producer across newsrooms in Texas. He mainly writes about pop culture and local North Texas happenings and occasionally writes concert reviews.