City Council Discusses Moratorium on Data Center Construction

Published on August 25, 2026

SAN ANTONIO (August 25, 2026) – City Council discussed a possible moratorium on data center construction and potential amendments to the Unified Development Code (UDC) related to data centers. This discussion is in response to Councilmember Galvan’s Council Consideration Request (CCR) calling for a comprehensive review of data center growth and its potential impact on the city’s natural resources and infrastructure, and the three-signature memo filed by the District 6 Councilmember along with District 8 Councilmember Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, and District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo calling for a temporary moratorium on all data center development within the City of San Antonio.

Texas law requires cities to follow a strict process to establish a building permit moratorium. The state-mandated process takes approximately three months to implement. A building permit moratorium may be adopted for an initial 90-day period and extended up to 180 days.

The city’s UDC can be amended to address regulations specific to data centers. The Development Services Department has hosted three stakeholder input sessions on amending the UDC related to data centers. Based on feedback from the input sessions, the Development Services Department has prepared a set of draft UDC amendments for public review in advance of a future meeting of the Planning and Community Development (PCDC) Council Committee.

“City Council District 6 has been at the epicenter of data center growth in the City of San Antonio. Residents have long expressed concerns about the impacts on their neighborhoods and asked for greater transparency in the data center development process,” stated the District 6 Councilmember. “I look forward to creating policies that provide the opportunity for community members to have a say in where and how data centers are built in San Antonio, as well as pursuing a pause on data center development until these local policies are implemented.”