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Planning staff asks to postpone proposed multi‑building data center rezoning and CUP after water and easement questions
Summary
Staff told the Planning & Zoning Commission that a proposed rezoning and conditional‑use permit for a three‑building co‑location data center at 2701 E. Grauwiler require more technical review — including water‑use and easement analysis — and recommended postponement to the Feb. 2 meeting. The applicant agreed.
Planning staff asked the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 5 to postpone two companion cases that would rezone 2701 East Grauwiler and approve a conditional‑use permit (CUP) for a multi‑tenant data center campus.
Ken Bloom, planning manager, said the applicant initially understated building square footage in the staff report; each building’s footprint should be about 256,000 square feet (two stories, not one), for a combined total near 768,000 square feet, and the maximum proposed height is 75 feet. Bloom said the project is proposed as a multi‑tenant colocation facility rather than a single user.
Bloom also described two primary cooling approaches under consideration: an adiabatic (evaporative) system — which the applicant estimated would use about 14,000 gallons of water per building per day — and an air‑cooled closed‑loop system that would not have the same evaporation loss. He said the city’s water department requested additional technical details about the proposed technologies and their operational demands before the CUP is heard.
Bloom said the applicant is showing a proposed substation on the east side of the site and that high‑voltage transmission lines would need to be routed from existing lines to that substation; staff noted earlier contact with the utility Encore and said transmission routing could involve tall monopole towers and rights‑of‑way that the city cannot unilaterally control. "Public utilities are regulated; the city cannot dictate where a public utility places transmission lines," Bloom said.
Because the water‑use questions and existing easement constraints remain unresolved, Bloom said staff’s recommendation is to postpone both the rezoning and the CUP to Feb. 2 so the water department and applicant can provide the requested detail. Commissioners discussed whether they could legally deny a CUP based on proximity to residences; staff said the commission retains discretion to deny an application if it finds the use incompatible with adjacent properties under the UDC standards.
Next procedural step: staff will ask for the cases to be held until the Feb. 2 Planning & Zoning meeting, when additional technical information is expected.
