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Residents urge Taylor council to tighten zoning rules before more data centers arrive
Summary
Residents urged Taylor council to pause and strengthen zoning rules before approving more data-center projects, citing concerns about water and power demand, noise, generator emissions and long-term reuse of specialized buildings; council heard multiple public comments during the Dec. 11 meeting but took no zoning vote.
At the Dec. 11 Taylor City Council meeting, several residents urged the council to update local zoning and permitting rules before approving additional data centers, saying current rules treat those facilities as generic 'employment centers' and leave neighborhoods exposed to long-term risks.
"If we do not update our zoning now deliberately and thoughtfully, we're letting outside corporations define Taylor's future for us," Sarah Winters told the council, saying data centers can create heavy power and water demands, ongoing noise and heat, and relatively few permanent local jobs compared with their footprint. Winters asked council to 'future proof' zoning before more projects arrive.
Pamela Griffin told the council she felt residents had been 'stabbed in the back' by decisions that prioritize deals over neighborhoods. "That money gonna be the root of all y'all," Griffin said, urging members to 'vote from your heart' and better account for environmental and community impacts.
Another speaker, Carrie Deanna, framed the issue around Project Kamal, a proposed data center near Samsung: she said that when developments are annexed and rezoned as employment centers, the city can unintentionally lock in long-term water and energy commitments. Deanna urged the council to require more detailed information up front — including cooling-system plans, expected generator usage and cumulative effects when multiple industrial facilities cluster nearby.
Council members acknowledged the concerns and said staff and the planning commission are working through individual permit requests. No zoning ordinance changes or final votes were taken during the meeting; speakers urged the council to adopt clearer, project-specific rules and longer notification radii so residents are alerted earlier in the review process.
Why it matters: Data centers can be large, specialized facilities that place sustained demands on local infrastructure and create potential noise and air-quality impacts from backup generators; residents and several council members said Taylor's zoning code was not written for industrial-scale data infrastructure and recommended a deliberate review before approving additional projects.
What’s next: Council did not take a zoning vote Dec. 11. Residents asked council to bring a proposed zoning update or guardrails to a future meeting and to consider wider notice and specific conditions for data-center proposals.
