TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — Temple City Council voted to approve a tax abatement and a series of development requirements for the final planned project from Rowan Digital Infrastructure, as neighbors continued to voice concerns about the impacts on the community.
At the September 17 meeting, the council approved several items related to current and future data center development in Temple, addressing development requirements, infrastructure responsibilities, and restrictions on the use of the city's water and wastewater systems.
One resident nearly was removed from council chambers after getting off topic during discussion of the data center abatement policy. The mayor intervened before the situation escalated.
"Let's give him the opportunity one more time to stay on topic," the mayor said.
The resident responded, staying on the subject of tax incentives.
"Obviously nobody even wants these data centers here, but then you're furthering by giving them these major tax write-offs," the resident said.
Under a separate Infrastructure Agreement encompassing all three phases of Rowan's development, Rowan will fund a total of $38,545,796 for infrastructure projects.
That includes an approximate $25 million contribution toward the South Temple Water Infrastructure Capital Program — consisting of 10 projects to bring additional water capacity to the south and southeast portions of the community — as well as a voluntary $13 million Cooperative Endeavor Contribution, made up of $10 million toward an Aquifer Storage and Recovery project and $3 million toward a community center, if passed by voters.
Nathanial Brown of Rowan said water infrastructure was a driving factor behind the company's investment commitments.
"Rowan has heard time and again, whether it be at a public hearing, an open house, community dinner, that water is the number one issue for Temple residents, and it's the top concern that we hear from folks in the community. And so we knew that with any investment like this, we knew that that's what we wanted to focus on," Brown said.
On tax abatement, the council approved Tax Abatement Reinvestment Zone designations associated with two portions of the project and approved an amendment to Rowan's existing Tax Abatement Agreement.
The amendment strengthens requirements of the existing agreement by preventing a company with its own abatement from also receiving benefits from Rowan's agreement, excluding temporary onsite electrical generation from satisfying required investment provisions, and providing that tax abatement benefits will be discontinued for any period temporary generation is used beyond the allowable period.
The amendment does not reduce the company's investment commitment, extend the abatement period, or grant new incentives.
Despite those commitments, some residents remained skeptical. Joe Royer, co-founder of Temple Stands Together, said he still has unanswered questions and wants leaders to consider impacts beyond the budget.
"We're here every time because we care about our community, and it looks like the city council does not care about our community. A lot of this seems to be motivated by money to help them cover their mistakes that they've made in the budget," Royer said.
Tensions inside council chambers were also directed at members of the public. Councilwoman Zoe Grant addressed residents who have been "disrespectful" with their language.
"We've been quiet and we've said we're not gonna do this, we're not gonna press charges because we don't wanna ruin that person's life — you're ruining our lives, so — stop, please," Grant said.
The council also approved Code of Ordinance updates requiring Utility Service Agreements for certain industrially zoned developments or Special Utility Projects, along with a resolution defining Special Utility Projects.
Utility Service Agreements were approved for each of the three Rowan project sites, establishing requirements for the use of the city's water and wastewater systems, including capacity use limits, monitoring and metering, infrastructure requirements, timing and staging of water use, and compliance and enforcement mechanisms. Closed-loop cooling is required, and initial charging water must be staged and coordinated with the city.
The council approved amendments to the city's Unified Development Code establishing minimum development standards for new data centers. Those standards include requirements for closed-loop cooling systems, buffering, traffic impact studies, light and sound mitigation, site orientation requirements, and conditional use permits for standalone data centers.
The adopted amendments apply to future data center projects and require those projects to obtain a Conditional Use Permit to develop in light industrial and heavy industrial zoning districts.
Council also approved the voluntary annexation and Planned Development–Light Industrial zoning for property associated with Rowan's Project Lasso. Annexation brings the property into the city limits, allowing the city to apply its zoning and land use requirements and subject the development to city codes, including building and fire codes, and its permitting and inspection processes.
A Development Agreement was also approved, covering property acquired by Rowan as a replacement for the city's future landfill expansion. The agreement addresses comprehensive plan coordination, thoroughfare alignment, phased permitting requirements, noise mitigation, utility coordination, and relocation of infrastructure at Rowan's expense.
Both Killeen and Belton are looking at implementing data center-specific regulations as more developments come to the county.
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