Bastrop staff to pursue development-code amendment to require conditional-use review for data centers

City staff told the Bastrop council on Aug. 25 that they will bring a proposed amendment to the development code to define and regulate "data centers," aiming to ensure the council can require conditional-use review for facilities that meet a specified threshold.

"The council directed me to bring a proposed amendment to the development code that requires a conditional use permit, which means council gets the ultimate authority and gets to ask the ultimate questions," City Manager Sylvia said. She cited recent federal guidance, referencing "president's executive order 14318," as part of the reason local governments are reassessing whether data centers should be treated as critical infrastructure.

Councilmembers emphasized precision in definitions to avoid capturing ordinary server rooms or small-scale IT closets. Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland and others said thresholds (for example, by power consumption) should be narrowly tailored so that only large facilities trigger the conditional-use requirement. Sylvia said staff will take a draft to planning and zoning in September and return a final recommendation to council in October.