Audience members react to a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake where the commission voted to recommend a new data center that would border Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
WESTLAKE/KELLER — Tension simmering between neighboring North Texas cities over a proposed data center reached a flashpoint Tuesday night at a planning and zoning meeting in one of the state’s richest neighborhoods.
The more than 4 hour meeting was contentious with the crowd audibly laughing at times over the developer and commissioners as they spoke.
Keller residents Kevin and Patricia Myers listen to public commenters during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Public comment forms are spread across a table at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Mike Anderson makes revisions to his statement opposing a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
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Planning and Zoning Chairman Terry Wilkinson addresses public commenters at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
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Jeff Parsons, senior VP of development and construction with PowerHouse Data Centers, listens to public commenters during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Keller residents Les and Miriam Schreiber attend a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Public commenters speak out against a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Maechee Sarah Hudson, a Buddhist nun, speaks out against a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
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Keller resident Kevin Myers speaks out against a proposed data center that would abut his home at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
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John and Marisa Barthel speak out against a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Keller resident Cynthia Jacobs speaks out against a proposed data center that would abut her neighborhood at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Barbara Brewer speaks out against a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Keller resident Cynthia Jacobs listens to public commenters at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Jeff Parsons, senior VP of development and construction with PowerHouse Data Centers, gives a presentation for a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Jeff Parsons, senior VP of development and construction with PowerHouse Data Centers, gives a presentation for a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Kevin Myers talks about a proposed data center that would abut his home in Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
A woman throws her arms up as she is ushered out of council chambers after the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend a new data center in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Mike Anderson address the Planning and Zoning commission and says, “thanks for being good neighbors,” after the commission voted to recommend a new data center in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
A man walks in front of the dias and records Planning and Zoning Commission members while saying, “this is who sold you out,” after the commission voted to recommend a new data center in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Linda Bjorn informs people who attended a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake to attend the city council meeting where they will vote to approve a new data center that would border Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
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Keller resident Cynthia Jacobs clutches her husband’s hand while the Westlake Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend a new data center that would border Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Audience members record a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake where the commission voted to recommend a new data center that would border Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Public commenters speak out against a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Immediately before the vote to approve the project, multiple people shouted “Shame!,” at the commissioners. Then, the larger group erupted in gasps and shouts as every commissioner raised their hand in approval.
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“Thank you, neighbor! Thank you, neighbor!,” one man yelled as he walked toward the commissioners throwing his hands in the air before turning to exit.
Tuesday’s scene played out in Westlake — a town 30 miles northwest of Dallas previously named the most affluent community in the country — as it greenlit plans for its first data center when the town’s five-person planning and zoning commission unanimously voted to recommend it.
The Circle T Data Center will include four buildings on 88 acres that shares a property line with the City of Keller.
The developer, PowerHouse Data Centers, has roughly 140 data centers planned or operating across the country including in Irving and Grand Prairie. Westlake also touted Hillwood, chaired by Ross Perot Jr., as the town’s primary development partner.
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The main issue people have taken with the plans isn’t the data center itself, but rather a perceived double-standard regarding its proximity to residential areas.
Jeff Parsons, senior VP of development and construction with PowerHouse Data Centers, speaks a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake where the commission voted to recommend a new data center that would border Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Westlake said the development will be a minimum of 1,200 yards away from its residents, but plans show it will be roughly 500 feet — or some people argued as little as 200 feet — from the backyards of multiple Keller residents, including a former mayor.
Dozens of these Keller residents living in and around the abutting Marshall Ridge neighborhood said they didn’t learn about the data center until a Facebook post last Thursday. Several said they were shocked and disheartened.
“I want to be clear, I’m not against growth,” Marshall Ridge resident Ben Buckwalter said during the meeting. “I’m against putting a massive data center next to families when there is a better option. … We’re not asking you to kill this project, we’re asking you to move it.”
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The frustration that Westlake residents were valued more than their Keller neighbors was repeated again and again Tuesday night as more than 100 people packed a small meeting room in Westlake Town Hall.
There were a limited number of chairs, leaving many attendees to stand for the presentations and 29 public comments. The crowd applauded after each person spoke, most of which were Keller residents. No one asked for the plan to be approved as is.
About two hours of the meeting was spent with the commissioners in a closed executive session.
Immediately before the vote, the town attorney and one commissioner asked for clarification on the commission’s role in approving such plans.
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“As long as it’s compliant with those provisions, then we felt that the site plan should be approved,” Deputy Town Manager Jason Alexander said, adding that zoning rules established this as “use by-right.”
The data center still needs to be approved by a Town Council vote before construction can begin.
‘Exciting new development’
This clash began brewing last week when Westlake announced the data center project.
The town’s website now includes a page titled “Westlake’s Exciting New Development.” It details plans for welcoming the new data center and refers to the project as “an important investment in our community’s future.”
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According to the town, the project will not raise resident’s water or electricity bills; it will be two-thirds of a mile away from the nearest Westlake home; its noise level won’t rise above the equivalent of a household refrigerator between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.; there will be minimal traffic impact; and more than 4,000 native trees and bushes will be planted along the property’s perimeter.
The Keller-Westlake city line is marked outside of the Marshall Ridge neighborhood in Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
“Our residents expect thoughtful planning, transparency, and a commitment to protecting what makes Westlake such a special place to call home,” Westlake Mayor Kim Greaves said on the website. “This project has been carefully evaluated to ensure it meets our high standards while providing meaningful long-term benefits for our community.”
She said the data center will have a minimal impact on residents’ daily life while expanding the town’s tax base, strengthen funding for public infrastructure and Westlake Academy, and help reduce the tax burden on residents.
Multiple Keller residents called the announcement shocking and said they wished they had been alerted sooner.
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Keller Mayor Ross McMullin said in a Facebook post that he and City Council members were also “unfortunately surprised” by the announcement.
McMullin said the property owner has the right to complete the project and that Keller doesn’t have any zoning or land-use authority over the property. He committed that he and other Keller officials will advocate on behalf of residents if issues arise.
Land, in Westlake, that borders Kevin Myers’ Keller home is slated for a data center, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
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“Let me be clear that Keller does not currently have any data centers in the development proposal pipeline,” McMullin added. “I can also assure you that data centers are not allowed by-right anywhere in Keller. Keller residents would be part of any data center conversation in our community.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Kevin and Patricia Myers sat on the sofa in the living room of their Llano Court home they’ve lived in for four years. A view behind them gave a view of their backyard, a tall dark brown privacy fence, some small trees and the property where the data center would be feet away.
“This isn’t a politics issue,” Patricia said. “It’s a humanity issue.”
Kevin said they are the “ground-zero neighborhood.
“Build your data center, that’s fine,” he said. “But give us the same courtesy as your residents.”
Texas Data Center Tracker: Texas data center tracker: See where data centers are planned or operating near you
Cynthia Jacobs, a 17-year Keller resident, also hoped the meeting would go differently.
Beforehand, she walked her favorite path along the nearby wetlands she fears will be impacted by the data center. She pointed to the grasses and flowers and talked about how the landscape changes with the season but she can always find peace there when she visits a few times each week.
The music teacher said she has felt voiceless since finding out about the data center, but prayed Westlake would listen.
‘Love your neighbor as yourself,” she said. “I just want to live my peaceful life and I know development is a part of that because it’s changed so much since I moved 17 years ago, and I expect that but not without a conversation,”
Cynthia Jacobs walks past a sign marking a stream and wetland mitigation area in Keller, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. Jacobs says she walks and runs the trail three times a week and is worried a proposed data center in the neighboring city of Westlake will disrupt the peacefulness of the trail.
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D-FW’s data center boom
Data center developments have seemingly flocked to Texas where land is abundant, power is relatively cheap, the infrastructure is strong and regulations are business friendly.
Dallas-Fort Worth has emerged as a hub, recently being named the No. 1 primary data center market in the world.
There are already multiple data centers within a few-mile radius of the proposed Circle T Data Center, including Meta’s $1.5 billion 170-acre Fort Worth data center campus that became operational in 2017 and TierPoint’s 208,000 total square feet data center campus in Fort Worth’s AllianceTexas.
The politics around data centers has been rapidly shifting in recent weeks.
The changing sentiment was highlighted Monday when Gov. Greg Abbott — who last fall praised the state’s increasingly integral role in the AI sector — called for state regulators to conduct a sweeping audit of data center projects wanting to connect to the ERCOT power grid, likely halting several potential projects.
Communities being faced with data center developments they don’t want are also fighting back.
Grassroots efforts developed all over Texas, like in Red Oak, which already has seven planned or operable data centers. Some have already been successful, including a data center company withdrawing its plans last month for a data center in Henderson County near Cedar Creek Reservoir.
Public commenters speak out against a proposed data center at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Westlake, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.