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Hundreds of residents press Fort Worth City Council for data-center moratorium and ethics review
Summary
Dozens of public commenters at the June 23 Fort Worth City Council meeting pressed elected officials to pause approvals for large data centers, citing water, energy, noise and equity concerns, and raised transparency questions tied to the mayor’s family connections to data-center lobbying.
Dozens of residents used the City Council’s public-comment period on June 23 to demand a pause on new hyperscale data-center projects, to press for a permanent city ethics commission and to question recent incentives the city has granted to large tech firms.
Speakers including Ambika Sharma and Noor Wadi urged the council to begin a temporary moratorium while city staff and independent experts study environmental and fiscal impacts. "We are mistaken if we think a Fort Worth decision is not going to impact all of North Texas," Noor Wadi said, calling for safeguards on water resources and for the city to guard against the appearance of impropriety.
The session became a forum for wider criticism of the council’s handling of data-center policy. Ambika Sharma cited filings with the Texas Ethics Commission and said those records show increased lobbying compensation tied to the mayor’s spouse after the mayor took office; she framed the point as a call for transparency rather than an allegation of criminal wrongdoing. "I'm not alleging wrongdoing. What I'm asking for is transparency," Sharma said.
Technical concerns also featured in comments. Audio engineer Steven Sanchez told the council that standard dBA noise metrics understate low-frequency hums associated with data centers and recommended the city measure with C- or Z-weighted curves or in sones to better represent human perception.
Other speakers focused on fiscal and land-use questions. Ambika Sharma questioned why the city had granted tax abatements on a large business-personal-property valuation for a warehouse tied to a major tech firm, telling the council: "So, I question, who is signing off on these abatements?"
Multiple speakers pushed back on procedural choices by the council: Krista Erby and Conley Brewer warned against proposals to shorten public-comment times or require advance categorization of comments, arguing such steps would narrow access and dilute accountability. Several commenters also urged restoration of remote speaking options for residents.
Council members did not take substantive action on data-center policy during the meeting; a staff presentation and a vote on procedural waivers and routine items occupied other parts of the agenda. Mayor Parker and staff did not announce a moratorium at the meeting. The meeting record shows further regulatory work and a scheduled staff-led open house on June 30, which some commenters urged council members to attend to hear residents’ concerns.
The public-comment period concluded with several speakers urging political change if they felt the council failed to act. The council adjourned after the speakers’ list concluded and taken items were disposed of earlier in the agenda.
