As demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing fuels a nationwide boom in data centers, Lewisville officials are moving to tighten regulations before the industry comes knocking on the city’s door.
The Lewisville City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing at City Hall Monday at 7 p.m. on a proposed ordinance amendment that would formally define data centers and require them to obtain a special use permit before locating in the city.
Currently, data centers are allowed in industrially zoned areas under the city’s classification for distribution warehouses.
“Demand for data center facilities has surged over the past few years, driven by market shifts and the rapid expansion of cloud computing and Large Language Model (LLM) systems,” Planning Director Richard E. Luedke wrote in a memo to city officials. “Lewisville is positioned to see particularly high demand for these uses due to the prevalence of light industrial zoning and an abundance of existing warehouse developments that can be retrofitted to house data centers.”
Under the proposed ordinance, a data center would be defined as a facility used primarily for the storage, management, processing and transmission of digital data, housing servers, network equipment and other technology infrastructure.
The proposal would prohibit data centers in residential areas and require a special use permit in industrial districts, allowing the city to review each project individually rather than permitting them by right.
“Implementing an SUP requirement would allow the city to evaluate, on a case-by-case basis, the compatibility of new data centers, or the redevelopment of existing warehouses into data centers,” Luedke wrote. “Ensuring that infrastructure capacity and environmental impacts are properly mitigated.”
City officials cited concerns over the significant demands data centers place on water and electrical systems, as well as potential noise and environmental impacts.
“While they share a similar physical footprint, data centers differ significantly from traditional distribution warehouses in their operational demands and have great potential to impact the community,” the memo states.
According to the city, data centers require substantially more electricity and water for cooling and operations than traditional warehouses, raising concerns about long-term infrastructure capacity.
Lewisville does not have any requests to build new data centers, but currently has two operating. City staff noted that the newer facility has voluntarily incorporated water recycling measures, while an older, larger facility consistently uses more than 40 million gallons of water annually.
The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the ordinance amendment in May.
Residents can also submit comments online.
