Just after midnight on Wednesday morning, the San Marcos City Council rejected an ordinance to change the Preferred Scenario Map for the city’s Comprehensive Plan for the Highlander SM One Data Center, proposed by John Maberry for a 200acre property on Francis Harris Lane. The request would have changed the classification of the property on the map from “conservation/cluster” to “commercial/employment low.” Had the ordinance passed, the council would have heard comments on a subsequent ordinance rezoning land to “Light Industrial,” paving the way for construction of the CyrusOne data center.
CyrusOne told the city that they would pause their involvement in the rezoning case following a contentious hearing last week. On Monday, a city official confirmed that the city had received an email from CyrusOne stating that they will no longer be part of the rezoning process for this project.
“We have withdrawn from the rezoning case to take the time needed to address the concerns raised and to ensure that any future plans align with the needs and values of our community,” according to the letter received by the city on Monday.
However, John Maberry said on Monday that CyrusOne is still part of his plans for the property.
“[CyrusOne] have not withdrawn from the project,” said Maberry. “I think we have decided that the best way to han- dle this discussion, especially since so much of it is rooted in the restrictive covenant, is for the landowner and the applicant to be having that discussion.”
The restrictive covenant Maberry refers to would have allowed the city of San Marcos to place restrictions on several areas of concern, including noise pollution, power usage and water usage.
While four of the city council members and mayor Jane Hughson voted for the Ordinance, Amanda Rodriguez, representative for place 6, and Saul Gonzales, representative for place 2, dissented. Therefore the Ordinance failed to achieve the supermajority needed to pass because it has been rejected by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Rodriguez said she strived to see all angles of the issue, and appreciated the input from a wide variety of San Marcos citizens, but remained consistent in her stance against the project.
“It’s been months now, and y’all have only continued to grow in size and grow in diversity,” she said about the public commenters on the issue. “I have tried to see many, many sides and from the beginning, I don’t think anything that has been said has changed my opinion on the issue at hand. For the last couple of months, I have driven out to that land multiple times, day and night. I wanted to see the land y’all talk about. I wanted to see what it looked like at night, the stars that were mentioned. I wanted to see what it looked like during the day. I cannot, in good faith, support something like this.”
Saul Gonzales, representative place 2, also thanked citizens for their range of perspectives, highlighting the passion and research behind their comments.
“The reason I’m not supporting this is, first of all, I do listen to my constituents, and I’m not going to sit here and tell you I know best. But they know a lot more than I do, and I appreciate each and every one of you coming out here and speaking because you represent so many people.”
Mayor Jane Hughson stressed that not all citizens were against the ordinance.
“There are people in San Marcos that do want this,” she said. “There’s more than the people who have spoken here and sent emails.”
Matthew Mendoza, Place 1, said he thought that a data center at this location, next to the Hays Energy power station, was a better option than a neighborhood.
“They are going to build one way or another, and it’s a shame that anybody here thinks that it’s okay to put families in that area. I am in no way saying, yay, let’s go for [CyrusOne], let’s go for these data centers,” Mendoza said.
“That’s ridiculous. ... but here on council and as elected officials, we are always put in a position that you are choosing, usually put in a position to choose the lesser of two evils.”
Maberry stressed that the infrastructure in the area surrounding the Hays Energy power station had caught the attention of several other data center developers.
“There will be a data center by this power plant,” said Maberry. “The electrical infrastructure that is already there is what assures this. There is enough available power on the grid to support one of these facilities without additional generation being required.”
He said if his project doesn’t get approved, another will that may not have the same level of oversight.
“Our application was the first and we were first in line, but if we don’t get this zoning, the power will pass to the next in line, and no one in that line is proposing to come into the city with the environmental controls and water use restrictions that we are.
“A vote against this city data center is a vote for the county data center,” he said, stressing that his proposal offers San Marcos the opportunity to regulate the center.
Leading up to the vote on rezoning, the council unanimously approved an annexation for a portion of the property into the city limits on the first of two readings.
It was stated during the meeting that the annexation process would be separate from the zoning decisions, but it was clarified that Maberry could withdraw from the annexation at this point if he so chooses.
The video of the entire eight-hour city council meeting can be viewed online at sanmarcostx. gov/421/City-Council-Videos-Archives.
