Residents near the Gambit Energy storage park on Murray Ranch Road told the Angleton City Council on Monday night that fans and other equipment at the battery facility produce sustained noise at times that makes backyards and homes difficult to use. The council said it would ask staff and the city attorney to compile compliance documentation, obtain a peak-season sound study and return with options — including enforcement of the facility’s specific-use permit — and invited the project owner to appear at a future meeting.

Neighbors said noise has become worse in warm weather and that prior noise testing provided by the developer was done in cool months. “The noise is extremely bad,” said Kelly McDaniel, a resident whose backyard is about 462 feet from the facility; she told council she recorded readings above 60 decibels on multiple occasions. Lance Wortham, another resident, said he has recorded sound-pressure levels above 50 dB “for multiple hours at a time” and asked the city to repeat the testing at higher summer temperatures.

The council’s interest centers on whether the facility is meeting the conditions attached to its specific-use permit, including required landscaping, screening and semi-annual noise monitoring. City staff and the city attorney said the permit requires monitoring and landscaping and that the city can enforce conditions; the attorney warned that revoking the permit would be legally consequential because of the developer’s investment but said enforcement and litigation remain available remedies if the city proves violations.

Residents and several council members pressed for concrete near-term steps: require a city-directed, third-party noise study during the city’s warmest months; verify completed landscape and screening work against the approved plans; and ask the owner to modify operation or equipment while disputes are resolved. City staff told the council they would prioritize a review, seek required documentation from the developer and attempt to schedule the developer for a future meeting (council discussed roughly an August 26 target) so residents and the company can meet publicly.

Background: The Gambit facility is permitted as an energy storage site within a residential zoning district under a specific-use permit approved earlier. Neighbors say the siting and equipment arrangement differed from earlier presentations and that mitigation promises (vegetative screening and an eight-foot fence) have not eliminated audible impacts. Residents also raised safety concerns about chemical releases in the unlikely event of a thermal runaway, citing common battery fire byproducts; city staff said those safety issues largely fall under state and federal regulation but that the city can and will enforce its own permit conditions and noise ordinance.

What’s next: Staff and legal will review the permit and plans, request or schedule a third-party peak-season sound study, and return to council with a report and recommended actions. Council members said enforcement, citations under the city noise code, or revocation of the use permit remain options if compliance cannot be demonstrated or achieved.

Why this matters: Neighbors say the noise affects quality of life and resale value for houses adjacent to the facility; the issue also tests how small cities regulate new energy technologies sited near established neighborhoods. The city stated it will pursue evidence-based enforcement and bring the developer back to answer questions.

Speakers quoted in this article are from the meeting record and include residents and city staff who spoke at the meeting.