HUTTO DATA CENTER
Supporters: Site will add tax revenue
HUTTO — An overflow crowd at City Hall this past week raised concerns about a proposed Zydeco Development data center, but supporters argue the site will create financial opportunities for the town.
The two hours of discussion – with listeners filling the room and even lining the halls – took place at a Tuesday Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, with consideration for possible approval May 7 before the City Council.
Zydeco Development has applied for a zoning change and land-use plan
“
Not all data centers are created equal.”
— Wes Gilmer, Zydeco Development to build a data center on 40 acres at 450 Ed Schmidt Blvd.
“This is an opportunity for the city of Hutto to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable value by taking the existing infrastructure on an otherwise very constrained and restricted site,” said Wes Gilmer, principal with Zydeco Development.
Councilman Peter Gordon said after careful consideration he feels the data center is a better use of the land than a previous proposal, which involved a multifamily development.
“I compared the site proposal from the previous developer to the one from the data center developer,” Gordon said in a social-media post. “In all four categories, the data center would deliver...better than the other project.”
Gilmer said the proposed data center would be a mid-sized facility using no more than 70 megawatts of power and avoiding some issues found with the larger data center complexes.
Zydeco Development was responsible for the MetCenter, Austin’s largest master-planned business park and home to the largest concentration of data center facilities in Central Texas, according to Gilmer’s presentation.
Data centers from Taylor to Temple, with some estimating as many as 60 in Central Texas, have become lightning rods for controversy as critics worry about potential pollution and noise, dwindling water and electrical resources and claims of ill effects from concentrated power sources.
Gilmer downplayed some of those fears.
“Not all data centers are created equal. What we’re proposing tonight is designed to be a lowimpact thoughtful neighbor with minimal burden on city utilities,” he said.
Supporters say data centers provide construction jobs and, later, improved data security, high-speed connections and enhance artificialintelligence applications, streaming and cloud computing.
The Zydeco principal described the proposed data center as a preferable option for the community because the land was previously approved for a 173-unit multifamily development with retail, office and restaurant space.
That use would have increased traffic and been a larger draw on local resources than the data center, he suggested.
Gilmer said large utility poles that may have helped curtail investor interest in the multifamily project made it ideal for the data center, signifying a large availability of power However, many of the speakers Tuesday during the public-input session worried about the quality of life for those living within 600 feet of the data center.
“Do we really believe we’re offering the highest quality of life for these (schoolchildren) by putting a data center right next to them?” asked resident Nick Clark.
Sandra Ross, who said her house faces Schmidt, told officials approving the project means she will have to stare at it through her living-room window, changing the character of her neighborhood.
Many urged the city to not value tax revenue over residents.
“Tax revenue alone is not the measure of a healthy community,” said Joseph Cortez.
Zydeco is asking the city to change the zoning to heavy industrial, to allow for rezoning for the data center.
Gordon said if residents gather all the facts and sentiment is still not in favor of the data center, he will take that into consideration when it comes to council on May 7.
P&Z Commission Chair Rick Hudson said another public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 20 at City Hall, 500 W. Live Oak St.
