Hood County pauses Project Red and Project Yellow hearings after widespread resident objections

Hood County Commissioners Court on March 10 held back-to-back public hearings on two concept-plan submittals — called Project Red and Project Yellow — for new data centers on the Wolf Hollow property and nearby tracts and voted to continue both matters to March 24 to allow more technical review. Developers represented by Starwood Digital Ventures presented an overview of the proposals and a team of engineers answered technical questions, while more than two dozen residents and experts testified for several hours about noise, water, traffic, wildlife and historical‑resource concerns.

The developer said Project Red would occupy about 139 acres at Wolf Hollow, would relocate existing Bitcoin mining equipment and build three enclosed data-center buildings, reuse existing power and water infrastructure and provide only backup generators on site. "We're the developer of the project, ma'am," Anthony Ballistrieri, who identified himself as part of the Starwood team, told the court in response to questions about corporate entities listed on the plans. Trace Strey, the civil engineer with Baird Hampton and Brown, said the concept plan is an early-phase submission and that detailed engineering, permitting with the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and the TCEQ, and construction phasing remain to be completed.

Residents urged the court to deny or substantially condition the plans. Jennifer Carig, a Mitchell Bend resident who identified herself as a disabled combat veteran, said, "What you guys doing to us is psychological warfare," and described chronic sleep disruption and declines in property value. Noise consultant Steve Walker showed modeling he said places the expected combined sources above HUD and EPA day‑night (DNL) guidance at nearby homes and urged the county to adopt a DNL limit of 55. Neighbors and multiple speakers described valve-blow incidents, dust, and years of sleep loss attributed to nearby industrial and crypto operations, and several speakers argued the concept-plan materials did not fully disclose phasing, construction traffic, wastewater handling and water withdrawals.

Developers said the concept plan shows only closed‑loop, air‑cooled systems that use limited potable water for domestic purposes and a 200,000‑gallon fire water tank; they provided a buildout traffic estimate of about 50 AM peak hour trips and 36 PM trips for steady operations but acknowledged construction traffic will be higher and depends on phasing. When asked about grid impacts and whether the project would trigger mass‑user utility deposit or interconnection requirements, the developer said the facilities would be served from existing grid infrastructure and that utility permitting and any required deposits would follow in later steps.

Upper Trinity General Manager Doug Shaw told the court no water‑well permit applications for data centers had been filed with his district as of the hearing; he explained that any non‑exempt groundwater permit requires an application, notice and board hearing and is not guaranteed. The county's fire marshal said he had not completed a safety review at the concept level and reminded the court that NFPA guidance for battery energy storage (855) and other fire standards may apply if such systems are proposed.

After hours of public testimony the court recessed to executive session; upon return the developers asked for more time. Commissioners unanimously (5‑0) granted a continuance for Project Red to the March 24 meeting; the court later granted a continuance for Project Yellow as well (vote recorded 4‑0 when one commissioner had left the hearing). During miscellaneous business the court also directed the development director to begin updating Hood County's development-permit regulations and the concept‑plan checklist to incorporate conditional items raised by reviewers and to evaluate state‑adopted fire code guidance and infrastructure‑protection considerations before subsequent submittals.

What happens next: the county's staff and third‑party engineer will review outstanding checklist items, the court will consider the March 24 continuance hearing and the developer must supply the more detailed engineering, traffic and permitting submittals required by Hood County, the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and the TCEQ. The county also said it will pursue regulatory updates so future concept plans will be judged against clarified standards for noise, water, traffic and critical‑infrastructure disclosures.