Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use And Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Socorro adopts temporary moratorium on large custodial facilities and new data-center zoning rules after public hearing
Summary
After hours of public comment on water, wastewater and community impacts, the Socorro City Council adopted a temporary moratorium on large custodial facilities and approved a new zoning ordinance to regulate data centers, while asking staff to refine technical provisions suggested by speakers.
Socorro City Council on March 19 adopted two land-use measures aimed at limiting large custodial facilities and tightening rules for data centers following an extended public hearing that drew residents, organizers and elected officials.
The council approved a temporary moratorium ordinance to pause acceptance, processing and approvals of certain development permits for infrastructure-dependent projects, including custodial facilities housing more than 100 people. Deputy City Manager Victor Betis told the council staff was available to answer questions about the ordinance before the motion to adopt carried.
The meeting then moved to a zoning ordinance that recognizes data centers as a distinct land use, limits possible locations, requires specific-use permits and establishes water-infrastructure and operational standards. Council members voted to adopt the ordinance and directed staff and legal counsel to consider public suggestions for more detailed, redlined amendments later.
Speakers at the public hearings repeatedly stressed water and wastewater impacts. State Representative Mary Gonzalez, attending in support, said the region needs not only water planning but wastewater treatment planning and urged a regional approach rather than parcel-by-parcel approvals. "If we think about 8,500 people'that's eight times the size of Clint'the wastewater alone is not something we've thought about," Gonzalez said.
Organizers and residents raised related concerns. Samantha Singleton, policy director at the Border Network for Human Rights, urged the council to require conditional use permits and thorough environmental review for large facilities, saying such projects divert essential resources and impose long-term costs on residents. Veronica Carvajal of Sembrando Esperanza urged the ordinance drafters to add protections for off-site power-generation water use and to ensure data centers do not shift infrastructure costs to ratepayers.
Other speakers, including ACLU of Texas representative Yvonne Diaz, described the moratorium as a pause to study cumulative public-safety and public-health effects and to protect scarce water resources. Joe Molina, a former city representative from El Paso who voted previously for a data-center approval elsewhere, said water and noise, and the likely need for additional power sources, weigh heavily against unregulated expansion.
Council members emphasized that the ordinance preserves the city's discretion to deny or condition approvals where impacts cannot be mitigated and asked staff to compile suggested text changes from the public for legal review. The council approved the moratorium and the data-center ordinance by voice vote; formal roll-call tallies were not read into the record.
The city planning staff will take additional public input and refine technical language (including water-demand metrics, utility-rate protections and noise/air provisions) for future council consideration.
