Hill County, roughly 55 miles south of Fort Worth, paused new data center construction for one year in unincorporated areas on Tuesday, a 3–2 vote that county officials acknowledged will likely draw legal challenges from developers and the state. The move makes Hill County the first Texas county to enact a moratorium on the rapidly expanding data center industry, which has increasingly targeted rural areas with few zoning restrictions.
Commissioners acted after residents and local officials raised alarms over a proposed 300-acre development by Dallas-based Provident Data Centers in north Hillsboro. Residents described the potential for noise pollution and heavy demands on water and electricity that could strain the rural county’s infrastructure and quality of life.
“The data center folks have found a sweet spot in the state that has limited regulations, limited enforcement, limited code, and they’re coming faster than we can keep up with,” Commissioner Jim Holcomb said before the vote. “I think it’s imperative … that we tap the brakes and we get our arms around what we’re faced with and do the research, do the studies.”
Holcomb, who voted for the moratorium, stressed that the decision was “in no way, shape or form a push to impair anyone’s right to do with their own property what they want to do with it.” County Judge Shane Brassell said the temporary pause will give officials time to understand the effects of data centers before any projects move forward.
The vote exposed the tension between local governments navigating an industry boom and a state leadership that has signaled counties should not stand in the way of development. Earlier this year, Houston-area state Sen. Paul Bettencourt sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asserting that counties have no constitutional or statutory authority to impose development moratoriums and asking the AG to investigate counties that passed one. On the day of a similar vote in Hood County, where at least eight large data center projects are pending, commissioners there rejected a moratorium after receiving the letter.
Hill County pushed ahead despite those warnings. County Attorney David Holmes cautioned commissioners before the vote that they risk being sued. “You’re damned if you and damned if you don’t,” Holmes said.
Brassell said the court still felt a responsibility to put guardrails in place during what he described as a “land rush,” even if it meant being the first county to test the limits of Texas law. Brassell and at least two commissioners expect lawsuits from data center developers and possibly from the state.
“Our hope and prayer was that (state leaders) take that vote as not a sign of defiance of the law, but as a plea for help to get some regulations in place to help protect our citizens,” Holcomb said.