Lubbock City Council will be holding a public hearing on Sept. 8 to hear from residents regarding a petition for an 18-month pause on data center development in the city.
A group of Lubbock citizens filed for a moratorium petition in late May and had 60 days to collect 2,410 signatures from city residents.
The group, acting under the name “Save Lubbock,” hosted protests, attended public meetings, and mobilized the community through social media and in-person events to rally support.
Read more: Lubbock citizens and city officials talk large-scale data center policy
According to the city secretary’s office, the petition gathered more than 3,900 verified signatures before it was submitted on Aug. 3.
At its regular Aug. 25 meeting, Lubbock’s city council voted unanimously to accept the petition – which does not enact the moratorium outright – and scheduled the public hearing.
One member of the council expressed concern that the moratorium, as it is proposed in the petition, may conflict with state regulations.
District 6 councilmember Tim Collins said he currently has two proposals to try and bring together what the citizens want with what the city can enforce.
“We want to protect our city. We've got to do it in a way that actually works, that we can enforce,” he explained. “So we'll be coming back with that, or at least I will be coming back with that, but our silence as we sit here is not to say we disagree. If there's anything to take from that, we sit in silence, but it's not to say we disagree.”
Collins said he hopes to preserve the initial proposal’s protection of the city’s water supply, power grid, and properties.
If the council rejects the petition from the hearing, organizers can choose to put it on the ballot in a general election. However, the city secretary pointed out that because the deadline for November’s general election has passed, it would not be up for a vote until May of next year.
The public hearing will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 8.