Brownsville is considering a temporary pause on new data center applications while city officials develop regulations governing the facilities and study their potential effects on infrastructure, utilities and neighboring properties.
The City Commission held its third and final public hearing Oct. 7 on a proposed 90-day moratorium covering the acceptance, processing and approval of applications for high-intensity data processing facilities within Brownsville and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Commissioners were also scheduled to consider the first reading of the ordinance establishing the moratorium.
The proposal follows months of discussion about how Brownsville should regulate data centers. An applicant previously sought a Specific Use Permit for a data center at 7480 Padre Island Highway but withdrew the request in July before it reached the Planning and Zoning Commission. During an August workshop, city staff said Brownsville's Unified Development Code did not contain regulations specifically addressing data centers and presented proposed requirements for future projects.
Those proposals included limiting data centers to Heavy Industrial zoning districts and requiring a Special Use Permit. The city has also been considering requirements involving electric and water capacity, cooling systems, noise, setbacks, screening and land-use compatibility.
The proposal comes as Brownsville has expanded its own technology infrastructure in recent years. The city has built more than 100 miles of municipal fiber, deployed a private 5G network and launched an AI Factory designed to process data from connected systems. Earlier this year, Brownsville also received nearly $22 million through the Texas Middle Mile Program to expand its fiber network by an estimated 138 miles. The initiatives were overseen in part by former CIO Jorge Cardenas, who left Brownsville this month to become Austin's deputy CIO.
Brownsville has also reactivated its Environmental and Conservation Task Force to study data center development. The group is examining electricity demand and energy reliability, water demand, land use, noise, lighting, neighborhood effects, infrastructure and economic considerations. The city has directed the task force to submit its findings and recommendations by Dec. 15 unless the timeline is extended.
Under state law, an initial moratorium could remain in effect for as long as 90 days and could later be extended another 90 days after additional required proceedings.
