Special Called City Council Work Session | November 10, 2026

The City of Fort Worth held a special-called City Council work session on November 10, 2026, to receive the Data Center Commission’s report on data center development. The commission presented recommendations addressing electricity and water use, land-use siting, neighborhood impacts, noise, and economic effects. Key proposals included closed-loop cooling with limits on supplemental water use, a 350-foot neighbor-protection distance that increases with building height, and pre- and post-construction acoustic assessments with field verification and corrective action if standards are exceeded. The commission did not recommend a specific industrial zoning category and identified low-frequency noise and some local impacts as areas needing further measurement. Council members discussed a pilot study and additional public and council review; the city manager said next steps and timing would be determined by the council. A moratorium and an associated public hearing were mentioned as pending or previously initiated actions, not as decisions made at this work session.

No contract awards, vendor selections, bid approvals, or spending votes were identified. The commission’s work was described as unpaid, and although a council member asked whether the city would hire or contract someone for a low-frequency-noise study, the discussion did not establish a procurement or funding decision. The recommendations could inform future zoning and development standards, but no new standards were adopted during the session.