Those regulations will be presented at a Zoning Commission meeting on Oct. 20<\/a> and voted on by City Council on Oct. 29<\/a>. Community members can comment at both of those meetings.<\/p>\n Council members are considering land-use regulations instead of a moratorium, which did not have enough support<\/a> to move forward when it came before them in August.<\/p>\n While council members did not vote on Wednesday, a majority leaned toward a specific use authorization \u2014 a permit that requires each new data center to be approved by city council.<\/p>\n Amin Tohmaz, the director of the city\u2019s Development Services Department, outlined the first two policy proposals Wednesday.<\/p>\n Option 1 has been on the table since August, when Tohmaz last presented to council members<\/a>. It includes 500-foot buffers between data centers and homes, schools, hospitals and assisted-living facilities. Data centers would also be prohibited from being built in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.<\/p>\n If data centers meet those requirements and are in land use zones that are set aside for commercial or industrial use, developers would have the right to build them.<\/p>\n Option 2 gives City Council more control and more flexibility. It requires data centers to get a specific use authorization from the city, which could negotiate with developers to get community-friendly development.<\/p>\n Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones chose to cut in a third direction, proposing what she called Option 3. Her policy proposal required data centers to seek authorization directly from city council, like Option 2, but it also laid out specific needs, similar to Option 1.<\/p>\n That included 1,000-foot setbacks from the edge of data centers, 45-day notices from data centers before they file plans with the city and two public meetings with community members. Data centers would also have to replace twice as much greenspace as they eliminate, enclose backup generators and submit to air quality monitoring.<\/p>\n As part of the application process, council members would ask for projected energy and water usage and any public benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have our water, the fact that we own our power and we have land. We are a very attractive place for these data centers,\u201d Jones said. \u201cSo we might as well ask for what we know they can afford.\u201d<\/p>\n At least six council members, a majority, leaned toward the second or third option because they allow council members to approve and negotiate with data centers on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe that any by-right for data centers should be allowed in our city,\u201d said Councilman Ric Galvan (D6). \u201cMaintaining specific use authorization is critical, as well. So with that, I ask my colleagues to support either option two or three.\u201d<\/p>\n Galvan first filed a request to discuss data centers last year<\/a> \u2014 his Westside district already has nearly a dozen of the facilities. <\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe it\u2019s just enough for residents to know about a project,\u201d Galvan said. \u201cIt\u2019s important for their public officials to also make clear where they stand on the project and to move it forward or not, depending on what the conversations look like.\u201d<\/p>\n But other council members did not want to risk restricting business.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m definitely leaning towards option one so that there\u2019s some consistency,\u201d said Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7).<\/p>\n Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) agreed with Alderete Gavito. Both also suggested a narrower definition of what a data center is to make sure other facilities weren\u2019t accidentally hit by new rules.<\/p>\n Tohmaz said his department has been working on the policy since Galvan raised the issue last year<\/a>. Over the summer, Development Services held four meetings with community stakeholders.<\/p>\n Tohmaz said community members were concerned about proximity to neighborhoods and schools, as well as water and power use. Data center developers, for their part, hoped to see stable regulations that would make construction predictable and planning straightforward.<\/p>\n Residents speak up<\/p>\n On Tuesday, several nonprofits hosted a town hall at Northwest Vista College, where several data centers have been built on the far West Side.<\/p>\n Galvan attended and laid out the city\u2019s policy proposals to more than 50 residents, many of whom were concerned about noise, air pollution and the potential impact on home values.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been good, we bought our houses and now they\u2019re being devalued,\u201d said Deborah Gutierrez, who lives just outside city limits but has data centers within two miles of her home. <\/p>\n She urged Galvan to advocate for Option 2.<\/p>\n Even residents who were in favor of data centers and improving digital infrastructure wanted construction and operation of the facilities to be responsible.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a viable necessity to modern day industry and business, but it has to be done in a respectable, honorable and an ethical manner. Like any other business, they\u2019re going at for profit. Let them finance their own operations,\u201d said Gary Luft, a San Antonio resident.<\/p>\n The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance and Public Citizen, two nonprofit organizations that hosted the town hall, have been organizing community members against data center development. Public Citizen was one of several environmental groups that launched a lawsuit against two San Antonio data centers<\/a> this year, arguing that there should be stricter pollution controls on facilities that have their own power generation.<\/p>\n State regulation<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792187649_51_CyrusOne_Vantage_DataCenters_TexasResearchParkway_OmicronDrive_ConstructionDevelopment_WaterEnergyPo.jpeg\")
Power infrastructure for data centers on Omicron Drive sits behind the Ascend on Potranco townhome community near the Texas Research Parkway on the far West Side of San Antonio. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DataCentersPresser_DistrictSix_WaterElectricity_D6Westside_RicGalvan02_08.07.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan calls for a pause to data center development during a press conference at San Antonio City Hall on Aug. 7, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DataCentersPresser_DistrictSix_WaterElectricity_D6Westside_RicGalvan01_08.07.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Citizens holds signs confronting water and power use by data centers during a press conference from District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan at San Antonio City Hall on Aug. 7, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n