Keller signed a $1.876 million settlement with the developer of a proposed Westlake data center, securing noise restrictions and emergency-response funding while agreeing not to obstruct the project if it complies with the agreement and applicable law.
The November 5 agreement also restricts Keller’s ability to recover additional monetary damages for violations of its noise provisions. The deal follows months of litigation and objections to a planned 1.1 million-square-foot campus approximately 506 feet from the nearest Keller homes.
What Keller Gets — And What It Gives Up
The settlement between Keller and Circle T Owner LP commits the developer to $1.5 million for a Noise Mitigation Fund, $300,000 for a Fire Protection Fund, and $76,000 toward Keller’s attorney fees and expert-consultant costs, according to the signed contract.
Keller can use the noise fund for acoustic studies, monitoring, mitigation, and other municipal purposes benefiting residents. The fire fund can pay for specialized training, equipment, replacement, and decontamination costs related to emergency responses at the facility. Neither fund must be replenished by Circle T after its initial contribution.
The obligations are not unconditional. They depend on Keller and Westlake signing a separate settlement and a court dismissing Keller’s claims against Westlake with prejudice.
Section 4.3 also prohibits Keller and its officials, acting in their official capacities, from opposing or delaying a compliant project, including by assisting third-party challenges. Circle T must notify the city of an alleged violation, and Keller has seven days to cure it to the developer’s satisfaction. Keller remains free to communicate with lawmakers about generally applicable data center policy.
Noise Rules Come With a Limit on Damages
The settlement sets a 49-decibel limit at residential property lines from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and a daytime limit of 56 decibels. It also specifies octave-band limits, requires a baseline study lasting at least 72 hours, and calls for quarterly independent monitoring during the first three years of operation.
Keller may operate continuous monitors. When monitoring identifies an exceedance attributable to the project, Circle T must make commercially reasonable efforts to investigate and correct contributing equipment problems, subject to coordination with Westlake’s enforcement actions.
But Section 2.3(e) makes the $1.5 million contribution Keller’s exclusive monetary remedy for breaches of the agreement’s noise provisions. After payment, Keller cannot collect additional monetary damages or penalties under those provisions, although the developer’s nonmonetary obligations remain.
Developer Details Power and Water Demands
PowerHouse planning materials posted on Keller’s website describe a four-building campus with 300 megawatts of planned power capacity. The developer says its team will finance an on-site switch station and substation served by Oncor. Westlake describes a 350-megawatt electrical installation and says the developer funded it without charging residents, according to the town’s project page.
The developer projects 54 million gallons of annual water consumption, a maximum permitted daily demand of 1.5 million gallons, and 5.5 million gallons of on-site storage. It says the cooling system would operate without water about 85% of the year. These are developer projections, not measured consumption after operations begin.
The signed agreement provides for Westlake to supply the project’s water. Neither that document nor the developer’s infrastructure-financing statement independently establishes what broader utility-system costs, if any, customers could face.
Earlier Site Plan and Court Challenge
In an August 12 letter included with Keller’s public documents, Dallas attorney Ashley Cook questioned whether the site plan depicted the required landscaped buffer along the boundary facing Keller homes. She also raised concerns about proposed floodplain changes and the supporting drainage analysis. Cook stated she did not represent any party in the dispute. Her assertions were objections, not findings of a zoning violation.
The November 5 agreement requires a 10-foot landscaped berm, irrigation, replacement of damaged screening trees, restrictions on exterior lighting and surveillance cameras, and delivery of specified grading and drainage plans. Backup generators must incorporate EPA Tier 4 emissions controls; testing is restricted to 10 a.m. through 4 p.m.
On August 17, a Tarrant County judge issued a temporary restraining order targeting Westlake’s vote on Resolution 26-25. The judge struck broader proposed restrictions on permits and site work, as The Dallas Express previously reported. The temporary order did not decide the merits of the homeowners’ allegations and was dissolved in September.
Different Cities, Different Financial Stakes
Westlake projects that the campus will generate $5 million annually in town revenue during its first decade and $7 million annually thereafter, helping expand the commercial tax base. Keller does not collect Westlake’s municipal property taxes, though its residents live near the site.
A Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing registered October 2 identifies an $83 million, privately funded construction project for a 224,152-square-foot data center at the campus. That filing does not establish the cost of the entire four-building development.
Nearby residents have questioned noise, property values, water use, and the approval process, as The Dallas Express previously reported. DX also covered the August site-plan decision and additional proposed neighborhood conditions.
Keller’s City Council unanimously authorized City Manager Aaron Rector to finalize the settlement on October 20. Rector and Circle T representative Brian Katz signed it November 5. Whether its protections are sufficient will depend on the remaining settlement conditions, construction plans, and the facility’s actual operation.
