San Antonio council votes 9-2 for case-by-case data center review
Council members Misty Spears and Marc Whyte cast the lone no votes; the same meeting unanimously sent data centers near the South Side UNESCO World Heritage Sites to council for setback review.
San Antonio City Council voted 9-2 on Oct. 29, 2026, to require case-by-case approval for every new data center proposed in the city, adopting an amendment to the Unified Development Code. Council members Misty Spears (District 9) and Marc Whyte (District 10) cast the only no votes.
Why it matters
The vote hands San Antonio’s council direct, project-by-project authority over data center construction instead of letting the facilities build under existing commercial or industrial zoning as a matter of course. For a developer planning a data center anywhere in the city, the rule change means a new specific use authorization step on top of standard permitting, with council members able to question distance from neighbors, noise, water use, energy draw and lighting before signing off. District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan started the council discussion last year; the far West Side, along Omicron Drive near Texas Research Parkway, already carries data center power infrastructure.
The numbers
The amendment, one of four options the city’s Development Services Department put before council, confines data centers to commercial and industrial zoning districts and requires council approval of each one individually rather than by-right development. The Zoning Commission had recommended a softer version the week before, with by-right development in heavier industrial areas; council chose the stricter path. Council member Galvan said of the new review step: “Every single data center that is proposed to come to San Antonio must come to council.” The same Oct. 29 meeting also produced a separate, unanimous vote requiring data centers near the South Side’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites to come before council for specific setback requirements.
What’s next
Developers with data center projects already in the pipeline around San Antonio will now need to bring individual proposals to council for a specific use authorization before construction can proceed, adding a public hearing step that did not previously exist for projects sited in commercial or industrial zones. Any project near the South Side mission sites will also face a council setback review.
Track San Antonio zoning and development coverage at /markets/san-antonio/.
On the record
The amendment restricts data centers to commercial and industrial zones and routes every proposed project through an individual council review, drawn from the city's own agenda record rather than secondhand summary.
Public record · publicinput.com
Also reported by
- San Antonio Report, city council data center votesanantonioreport.org/san-antonio-leaders-city-council-data-center-construction