Judge blocks Westlake vote on controversial data center, granting restraining order to Keller HOA

A Tarrant County judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Town of Westlake from voting on or taking action to approve the proposed data center development agreement.

A Tarrant County judge granted a Temporary Restraining Order at the request of the Lakes at Marshall Ridge Homeowners Association in Keller to prevent the Town of Westlake from voting on the development agreement. Specifically, the order prevents the town and its officials from holding a vote on, approving, adopting or taking any action to implement Resolution 26-25 concerning the Circle T Data Center, including at the special meeting underway on Monday.

Josh Rabe opposes the data center. He said he lives in the Lakes of Marshall Ridge with his wife and children.  

"I'm not a protester, but I just, I don't know," Rabe said. "This was like the only thing I could think of to do."

Rabe is so against data centers that he wrote a song about them. He said he stayed up to the wee hours of the morning. Then, Rabe had his wife record a video for YouTube.

"Even in their selling points of why this is a good thing for Westlake is that they said this will be 1200 yards away from Westlake residents, but they neglected to say that it's only a couple of hundred feet from Color residence," Rabe said.

The order was issued at 3:01 p.m. The special hearing was already underway in Westlake, where the town council was set to vote on the data center development agreement.

A hearing is set for Aug. 26 at 10 a.m. in the 342nd District Court. 

Even though the judge's ruling came in just after 3 p.m., the town meeting went on until a call for executive session three hours later. Then, council members voted to table the vote on the data center until after the court proceeding. City leaders responded to the legal delay on Tuesday, saying in part:

"The development agreement does not establish whether a data center should be on the land; it only ensures proper installation and development of a data center. This development agreement exceeds the highest standards in our codes and ordinances and is therefore an important, legally binding document to address the concerns of our residents and neighbors.
"In the meantime, Westlake will continue to comply with the order laid out by the Tarrant County judge and the standards outlined by Governor Abbott regarding the project. The Town will continue to provide multiple notifications through our communication channels to let everyone know the date and time of the next meeting at which the data center will be discussed."

"The legal process is ongoing, but this is an important development," said Armin Mizani, the former Mayor of Keller and current Republican nominee for Texas House District 98. "In the Legislature, I will fight for stronger notice requirements for data center projects, including requiring approval by the governing body and ensuring that public notices clearly explain, in plain language, what is being proposed and what elected officials are being asked to vote on.
"Residents should never have to decipher vague or technical language to understand a decision that could significantly affect their community. I will continue to keep residents informed as we learn more."    

The controversial Westlake data center

The data center is planned to sit on land near Highway 377. That's near the border of Keller's Marshall Ridge neighborhood, and those residents are concerned about regional impacts. 

The council says the land is already approved for a data center, and that power, water use and noise considerations were all taken into account during the approval process. Last week, the City of Keller sent a resolution to Westlake, formally expressing its opposition to the data center.

The developer said in Monday's special meeting that it plans to have an independent entity conduct a noise study after the data center is built to make sure they're in compliance with Westlake's rules and confirmed the development will go through Gov. Greg Abbott's audit, and it will take months.  

"Through the most diplomatic means possible, we made very reasonable requests in our resolution opposing Westlake's data center," Keller Mayor Ross McMullin said. "To date, we have had no meaningful response from the Town of Westlake. Now the courts have intervened to temporarily halt any further action related to Westlake's proposed data center. We will continue to stand alongside our residents in seeking answers and pursuing meaningful protections for the community. The City of Keller will also continue to review its options as Westlake's proposed data center works its way through the court process."