At a City of Irving work session, council members directed staff to require conditional use permits for newly proposed data centers and to begin a broad public-notification process covering roughly 6,000 property owners, business owners and occupants.

The move formally brings new data-center proposals under a permitting process that would reapply development standards the council adopted in June and let council impose site-specific conditions, periodic reviews and revocation if an approved operation violates conditions. Staff told the council the notices will be mailed to properties zoned for industrial uses, properties along freeways and other locations the city identified as potentially affected. Planning & Zoning will hear the proposal first, followed by council consideration in early February.

Why it matters: Council members said the city needs a case-by-case tool to weigh the infrastructure, visual and environmental effects of data centers — including electrical delivery, water use, screening and noise — rather than allowing some new facilities to proceed as of right in industrial zones.

City staff described the ordinance package as two linked steps: (1) re-adopt the development standards the council approved in June for data centers, and (2) require a conditional use permit (CUP) for any new data-center use where industrial zoning would otherwise allow warehouse or distribution facilities. Under the approach, applicants would still be able to seek variances within the CUP process, but council retains the ability to add conditions or to deny uses judged incompatible with adjacent neighborhoods.

Staff warned that the city must balance the technical needs of data centers — power and cooling infrastructure — with community concerns. Officials said some newer facilities use enclosed cooling systems that substantially reduce water consumption and can be quieter than older equipment, and noted that electric utilities will still need to perform site-specific studies to confirm service capacity.

Council direction and next steps: Staff will mail the notifications next week, hold a Planning & Zoning public hearing on Feb. 3 and return to council on Feb. 6. Officials said the notice list will include property owners, business personal property accounts and occupants and will total about 6,000 addresses. No formal ordinance vote was taken at the work session; council members recorded an informal consensus to advance the CUP-based approach and the public-notice timeline.

Staff emphasized that CUPs can be structured as time-limited or indefinite, and that revocation procedures exist for noncompliance. Councilmembers asked staff to draft clear conditions — for example, preferences for enclosed equipment and site screening — and to identify preferred industrial areas where the city would encourage data centers in the future.

Ending: Councilmembers said they want to proceed quickly to control the siting and design of future data centers while working with utilities and industry on technical solutions for power and cooling. Planning & Zoning and the council will consider ordinance language and public input in February.