Fort Worth's citizen advisory group on data centers handed the City Council 19 recommendations on Tuesday, including a minimum 350-foot separation between homes and data centers and a push for cooling systems that use almost no water.
The 11-member Data Center & Infrastructure Commission, formed in August, compiled its proposals in a 156-page report covering electricity, land use, water and economic impact, the Fort Worth Report said. Michael Slattery, who heads TCU's Institute for Environmental Studies, led the group and presented the findings at an afternoon work session.
The main proposals
According to the Fort Worth Report's account of the presentation:
- Water: data centers would use a "zero-water" approach built on closed-loop, nonevaporative cooling with limited evaporative supplements. Water use would be made public, and local supplies would be protected through utility and service reviews.
- Neighborhoods: a minimum 350-foot setback from homes, larger for taller facilities, and a framework for enforcing noise limits. Slattery said the setback drew the sharpest disagreement among commissioners.
- Power: developers would submit a technical fact sheet and make verifiable commitments to ease strain on the electric grid.
- Long-range planning: heat effects and community input would be folded into the city's 2050 comprehensive plan.
The commission did not recommend specific zoning districts for data centers. Slattery said that choice left room for rules that protect residents without shutting out the industry, and that developers he spoke with wanted predictability.
Council member Jeanette Martinez wants buffers wider than 350 feet. Slattery said the figure had to be realistic and enforceable.
