City of Taylor moves forward with data center despite pushback from community

TAYLOR, Texas - The city of Taylor is one step closer to getting another massive data center and power plant despite strong pushback from the community.

City leaders say the deal gives them regulatory control and millions in potential revenue, but residents remain firm that they don't want these in their backyards.

Data center coming to Taylor

The backstory:

The city of Taylor approved a development agreement for the "Taylor Technology Campus," formerly known as Project Mustang.

The decision paves the way for big watt digital and powerhouse data centers to annex and develop a 664-acre campus at 3301 FM 112, east of city limits.

The project is a 500-megawatt data center and a 750-megawatt natural gas-fired power generation facility.

What they're saying:

"Without an agreement, the land would remain in Williamson County, which has no zoning authority or ability to regulate noise, setbacks, water use or light pollution," said Daniel Seguin with the city of Taylor.

Developers initially withdrew their zoning application last month. 

The city says it worked with the developers to make sure they’d meet regulatory standards. With the agreement, the land will be annexed into the city.

"The agreement requires a 300-foot setback from the north, east and west property lines and a 700-foot setback from the south line to protect nearby homes. It limits noise to approximately 65 decibels, requires the site to meet dark site lighting standards and requires the two backup generators be tested," said Seguin.

Some Taylor residents oppose the massive development

The other side:

While the city highlights the $28-million-dollar investment, residents made it clear they are against it.

"It is very clear what we want. It's very clear that we don’t want this project, that we don’t want the gas plants, that we don’t want the data centers, that we don’t want all of this large revenue that's pouring in because we want our community, we want multifamily housing, we want intermediate housing we want small businesses," said resident Carrie D’Anna.

"This isn't going to benefit anyone in Taylor. They say you can get the money, money sounds good, but we need to care about human lives, they should be more about human lives," said another resident. 

This isn't the first time residents have clashed over proposed data centers in Taylor.

Last year, the city approved a separate 135,000 square foot data center on Carlos Parker Boulevard amid similar concerns regarding noise, light, water and air pollution.

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