Data centers are being built across Texas, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott in August to order an audit of their power use. Abbott said data centers made up about 90% of new large-load requests to the state\u2019s power grid.<\/p>\n
Although as of now there are none in the small but growing city of Boerne its city officials are taking steps to limit the potential impact of future projects on residents.<\/p>\n
Boerne\u2019s Planning and Zoning Commission this week unanimously recommended new development standards before any data centers arrive. The proposal would limit future facilities to the city\u2019s heaviest industrial areas, require a Special Use Permit and keep them at least 1,000 feet from homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want it within 1,000 feet of my property,\u201d a Boerne Planning and Zoning Commission member said.<\/p>\n
The proposed rules would require the centers to be built 1000 feet form homes because of noise concerns and required developers to bring projected water and power use before city leaders as part of the review process.<\/p>\n
Some residents support the recommendations but want stricter limits.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch more than 1,000 feet away from homes, I think it should be West Texas. That would be great, where there are hardly any people living,\u201d Boerne resident Carolyn Boller said.<\/p>\n
Others said they support restrictions but do not want to prevent data centers from coming to Boerne altogether, citing possible economic opportunities and newer technology designed to reduce noise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to put them in Boerne and they\u2019re in industrial areas, in construction or whatever the case may be, I think that would be perfectly fine,\u201d Boerne resident Gabriel Martinez said.<\/p>\n
San Antonio is already home to more than 30 data centers and has held community meetings on potential rules of its own. Those discussions have included requiring each project\u2019s development plan to go before City Council for review in a special session by early October.<\/p>\n
Back in Boerne, the Planning and Zoning Commission\u2019s recommendations now head to City Council, where it is expected to be presented to them on Oct. 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Data centers are being built across Texas, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott in August to order an audit of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-440609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}