RED OAK – The data center battle in Red Oak escalated last week as local legal action intersected with gubernatorial campaign politics, turning a regional zoning dispute into a statewide debate over Texas infrastructure and resource allocation.
The lawsuit filed in Ellis County asks the court to determine whether the city ordinance to rezone the property was lawfully adopted, alleging Red Oak staff and elected officials failed to comply with mandatory voting, notice and procedural requirements under Texas law and the city’s zoning rules.
The plaintiffs, Elda Jazmin Villegas and Kathleen Estelle Heifrin, both own property within 200 feet of the rezoned land, according to the lawsuit.
They asked the judge to grant injunctive relief that would prevent Red Oak from using the ordinance to allow the development to advance while the dispute is in litigation.
The lawsuit comes months after the property was rezoned from agricultural use to planned development for a “high tech industrial park,” clearing the way for a data center campus to be constructed by Dallas-headquartered Compass DataCenters.
Plaintiffs want the court to declare the city ordinance invalid and have the property’s zoning classification reverted back to what it was before the council’s vote, according to the lawsuit.
If the zoning is reversed, a data center project would not be able to be constructed on the land.
Red Oak Planning and Zoning Commission voted 3-2 on April 27 to deny the rezoning, then Red Oak City Council voted 4-1 on May 11 to approve it. Council members Mayor Pro Tem Willie Franklin Jr., Sean Flannery, Ricardo Miller and Tim Lightfoot voted in favor of the rezoning, and Jeffery Smith voted against it. Mayor Mark Stanfill didn’t have a vote.
Red Oak’s city attorney and city manager did not immediately return an email seeking comment Thursday morning.
More than 130 people attended the city council meeting, and everyone who spoke during public comment was in opposition to the rezoning. Residents from Red Oak, Ellis County and beyond have continued to attend public meetings and work with grassroots group Red Oak, TX – Say No More Data Centers to protest the development.
Residents have raised the usual data center concerns – including water and energy usage, increased traffic and effects on property values – but have also said they worry about the impacts of rapid development and large-scale data centers being built near residential areas.
“This has never been about being against technology, businesses or economic development,” Villegas, a neighboring property owner and organizer with the grassroots group, said in a news release.
“It is about whether the people who will live with the consequences of these decisions are entitled to proper notice, transparency, meaningful public participation and a lawful process.”