North Richland Hills is moving quickly to overhaul how it handles data centers after two proposed projects stirred up serious neighborhood backlash. City officials are racing to tighten the rules in the local zoning code, while residents are packing meetings and circulating petitions. The core fight is over whether heavy-duty server farms belong next to homes, and how much the city should clamp down on noise, water use and backup power.
The city has scheduled back-to-back public hearings before the Planning & Zoning Commission and the City Council, on July 20 and July 27 at 7 p.m. in the third-floor council chamber, where officials could sign off on text amendments to Chapter 118 (Zoning), according to the City of North Richland Hills. City notices say the revisions, first aired at a June 22 work session, are meant to spell out how both small and large data centers are regulated.
What's being proposed
Staff and planning officials are weighing a package of zoning updates that would narrow where data centers can set up shop and what kind of approvals they must secure. Among the ideas on the table are requiring a specific-use permit for certain facilities, increasing the required distance from residential properties, limiting some types of cooling systems or water consumption, and forcing developers to pay for site testing, as reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The city already treats facilities larger than 10,000 square feet differently from smaller ones, and that threshold is part of what triggered the current review.
Two projects at the center
One active proposal is a roughly 12,000-square-foot facility at 6401 Wuliger Way. State construction records list the "Wuliger Way Data Center" at that address, and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation shows that filing as a 12,000-square-foot new-construction project.
Separately, Provident has floated a plan to remake the former Santander operations center at 5201 Rufe Snow Drive into a larger data center campus. The company held an informational meeting on June 23, according to the city's Legistar posting (Legistar).
Neighbors and officials push back
Hundreds of residents turned out for Provident's informational meeting and grilled the developer about traffic, noise, water reuse and the overall size of the project, KERA News reported. Mayor Jack McCarty, after meeting with the developer, said he has serious concerns about data centers going in near homes and apartments, and wrote that Data centers near any residential areas in NRH is not what I want for our community, according to local coverage.
State rules are changing, too
The local fight is unfolding as state leaders rethink how data centers tie into the Texas power grid and who pays for the upgrades. The enrolled text of Senate Bill 6 set new planning and cost-assignment rules for very large electrical loads, according to the Texas Legislature. On June 10, 2026, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to take steps to shield residential ratepayers from being stuck with data center infrastructure costs, according to the Office of the Governor. Those statewide moves are already shaping the questions North Richland Hills officials are asking.
What to watch
The Planning & Zoning Commission is set to take public comment on July 20, and the City Council is scheduled to hold its own public hearing on July 27. Agendas and meeting materials are posted on the city's Public Meeting Portal and Legistar. Residents who want to speak at the hearings or submit written comments are advised to check the agenda postings for sign-up details before the meetings (Public Meeting Portal).
