Taylor council hears neighborhood concerns after introduction of employment‑center plan for 1601 MLK Blvd

The Taylor City Council on June 26 opened a public hearing and introduced Ordinance 2025‑17, an employment‑center plan for a roughly 52.42‑acre site at 1601 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard proposed for data‑center development.

Neighbors and community members urged the council to delay final action and to hold a neighborhood meeting. Speakers raised concerns about notification of nearby residents, potential impacts on water supplies and fire response, noise and air quality, and the concentration of industrial projects in historically Black and Brown neighborhoods on Taylor’s south side.

Planning staff said the site is zoned for an employment center and that the city’s comprehensive plan marks the area for employment use; staff also noted a required design warrant for an eight‑foot screening wall. Miss Roost, a city planning staff presenter, said 13 notices were sent and that the code requires an employment center plan because of the existing zoning. "There is a civic space or open space between the…