After failing to receive the supermajority vote needed during the Aug. 19 City Council meeting, the developers for the proposed Highlander SM One Data Center are back at Planning and Zoning for a second attempt at rezoning the nearly 200-acre property at Francis Harris Lane.
The request to amend the Preferred Scenario Map from “conservation/ cluster” to “commercial/ employment low” was originally denied in the Mar. 25 Planning and Zoning meeting with a 6-to-1 vote against rezoning. In October, the applicant submitted their agenda item for a new Preferred Scenario Map where the nature of the request was the same. The Planning and Zoning commission will hold a public hearing on Jan. 13 to vote on the item before it heads to City Council for a first reading on Feb. 17.
Planning and Zoning votes act as a suggestion and guide the council members once the agenda item reaches City Council. During the Aug. 19 meeting, Mayor Jane Hughson as well as Council members Matthew Mendoza, Alyssa Garza, Shane Scott and Lorenzo Gonzalez voted for the rezoning while Amanda Rodriguez and Saul Gonzales opposed it. Even though a majority of City Council voted to amend the preferred scenario map, the agenda item needed a supermajority vote of at least six council members in order to move forward with rezoning due to its Mar. 25 denial by Planning and Zoning.
The Preferred Scenario Map amendment process goes through multiple boards or commissions with the Neighborhood Commission receiving a presentation on Nov. 19 with no action taken. City Council will hold the first public hearing on Feb. 3, where no action will be taken, until the first reading at the Feb. 17 meeting, followed by the second reading at the Mar. 3 meeting.
John Maberry is the land developer for the property, originally bringing the almost-200 acres to Planning and Zoning to seek approval of a housing development within San Marcos city limits. The land is near the Hays Power Plant. After failing to move forward with the housing development, Maberry connected with data center developers CyrusOne to build on the property. In order to move forward with construction the Preferred Scenario Map, which is part of the city’s comprehensive plan, would need to be changed and then an ordinance to rezone the land to “light Industrial” would need to be approved.
Other data centers have set their sights on San Marcos, many neighboring the Maberry property on Francis Harris Lane. However, the Maberry/CyrusOne data center would be the only proposed data center within city limits, giving the city council the opportunity to add additional levels of regulations than those being proposed in the unincorporated portions of the county. The development proposals have sparked controversy and pushback by citizens and environmental organizations due to concerns of excessive water use and electricity demands for data centers.
Multiple citizens spoke against the development during public comment. Maberry was present to speak on behalf of his development property. CyrusOne informed council last August that they were removing themselves from the rezoning process after a contentious public hearing left many community members upset at the data center developers.
“A lot has changed in the last year and I would say what has changed most is that we spent the last year with all the stakeholders in this community, dozens of groups, hundreds of people, gathered feedback, listened to feedback and what we have done to change the project is the proposed restrictive covenant that regulates this data center inside the city limits,” Maberry said.
A preview of the restrictive covenant was presented to Planning and Zoning with a promise by developers that the full document would be ready for review by next meeting.
Planning and Zoning commissioners were able to ask questions regarding the development. Concerns centered on water usage and electricity rates, with commissioners also questioning the amount of permanent local jobs this would create.
No action was taken at the meeting but a vote is set for Jan.13 after another public hearing.
