Every New Data Center in San Antonio Now Needs City Council Approval, After a 9-2 Vote
The council's first significant restrictions on data centers require case-by-case approval before construction, limit the facilities to heavy industrial and commercial zones, and bar them over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
San Antonio City Council on Thursday passed the city's first significant restrictions on data center development, requiring each facility to seek council approval on a case-by-case basis before construction can begin, according to the San Antonio Current's report of the session, read in full this cycle. Council approved the amendment to the city's Unified Development Code on a 9-2 vote, with District 9's Misty Spears and District 10's Mark Whyte casting the dissenting votes.
The amendment limits data centers to the city's heavy industrial and commercial zones, gives council flexibility to require increased setbacks depending on the surrounding area, and forbids data center development over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. An alternate proposal by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones requiring a minimum setback of 1,000 feet was shot down during the session; instead, the public will have its say on each data center when facility representatives seek approval at council sessions. Until Thursday, operators had been able to build largely unfettered in San Antonio, and the Current reports the city currently has roughly 40 data centers, 19 of them in District 6 on the West Side, whose councilman, Ric Galvan, has led the push for stricter rules since filing a formal request last October.
The debate carried both sides in the chamber. Business lobbyists argued the stricter rules could slow development or push tech companies to build in nearby Medina County instead, and members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 60 cautioned that the regulations could kill high-paying jobs, crediting data centers with tripling union membership in the city. District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo countered that the artificial-intelligence boom the centers power has also contributed to layoffs. An October 2026 survey by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, cited in the reporting, shows more than 80 percent of Texas voters concerned about data center impacts on resources and power, and 99 percent believing the facilities should cover any required electrical grid expansion.
