STOP THE DATA CENTER DRAIN IN AUSTIN

Advocates 185

Actions Taken 2985

Tell Austin to STOP THE DATA CENTER DRAIN! Large-scale data centers are resource-intensive industrial facilities with colossal demands that destroy surrounding communities. These facilities are being proposed and built at an alarming rate in Texas, further straining water availability, grid capacity and and air quality. Speak Up to the Austin Mayor, City Council, and other key city leaders, demanding that they responsibly DEFINE and BAN large-scale data centers to protect Austin's future.

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Your Message

Recipient(s)

Chito Vela
Eric Johnson
Joi Harden
Jose Velasquez
Keith Mars
Krista Laine
Mark Duchen
Mayor Kirk Watson
Mike Siegel
Natasha Harper-Madison
Paige Ellis
Ryan Alter
TC Broadnax
Vanessa Fuentes
Zo Qadri

Subject

Dear [Recipients],

I support defining data centers in Austin&rsquo;s zoning code, and I&rsquo;m encouraged by Council Members who have said they want to keep large-scale data centers out of our city. First and foremost, I support a temporary moratorium on all data centers in Austin so that no new data centers can be permitted before these zoning regulations are established.
We ask Council to direct staff to incorporate the following protections into Austin&rsquo;s zoning updates:
<ol>
<li> Keep large data centers out of Austin. Prohibit zoning for any data center that exceeds any one of these thresholds:</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">20 MW energy demand</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">100,000 square feet of building space</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">5 acres of total site area</li>
</ul>
<ol start="2">
<li> Treat small accessory data centers differently. Data centers comprising less than 15% of a building&rsquo;s square footage should be permitted as accessory uses. Any larger data center should require a conditional use permit.</li>
<li> Establish clear protections for facilities seeking a conditional use permit. They should be required to:</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Limit noise to 60 decibels or less at the property line</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Set all structures back 200 feet from the property line and 1,000 feet from any property with residential use or zoning permitting residential use, a hospital or health facility with overnight patients, hotel, school, daycare facility, or agricultural use</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Maintain at least 0.5 miles of separation from any other data center to prevent clustering and prevent operators from bypassing size limits by spreading a facility across multiple sites</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Plant native trees for visual screening, noise mitigation, reduction of urban heat-island effects, and shade along adjacent sidewalks and roadways</li>
</ul>
<ol start="4">
<li> Give the Planning Commission meaningful authority. As part of the conditional use process, the Planning Commission should have clear authority to deny an application based on impacts to public health, natural resources, the environment, and quality of life, as well as authority to impose related conditions.</li>
</ol>
Austin has an opportunity to put sensible guardrails in place before larger data center development becomes entrenched. If the goal is to keep large-scale data centers out of Austin, the zoning code needs to say so clearly. We urge you to adopt these protections.
Thank you for your consideration and for taking this issue seriously.

Closing

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Thank you for voicing your concerns and for protecting the Austin's water, land, air, and communities.

READ MORE ABOUT THE DATA CENTER DRAIN HERE