The facility, planned for nearly 88 acres near U.S. Highway 377 and Westport Parkway, is expected to generate about $5 million annually for Westlake during its first decade of operation, according to town officials.

The approval follows a settlement reached earlier this month between developer Circle T Owner LP, the city of Keller and homeowners in Keller's Marshall Ridge neighborhood, who said they were blindsided by plans to build a massive data center a few hundred feet from their properties.

That agreement, valued at nearly $2 million, gives Keller contractual authority to enforce noise, screening and operational requirements at the site even though the property lies outside Keller city limits.

Under the terms, the developer must meet daytime and nighttime noise limits at residential property lines, fund an independent baseline noise study and conduct quarterly monitoring for three years after operations begin. A 10-foot landscaped berm will screen the facility from nearby homes, and trees that die or lose their screening function must be replaced.

Diesel backup generators must carry EPA Tier 4 emissions controls, and generator testing is limited to daytime hours. Circle T must also provide grading and drainage plans covering the berm and related improvements.

The settlement includes $1.5 million for noise monitoring, environmental mitigation and other municipal programs benefiting Keller residents, $300,000 for Keller Fire Rescue training, equipment and decontamination, and $76,000 toward Keller's attorney fees and expert consultant costs.

Residents' concerns about noise, environmental effects and the approval process led to lawsuits and a temporary court order that blocked Westlake from advancing the development agreement. The order was later dissolved, and the homeowners also agreed to settle their litigation.

The dispute strained relations between the two cities. Westlake voted against renewing its police services contract with Keller; the existing agreement runs through October 2028.

The Westlake project reflects a broader fight over data centers across Texas, where concerns about electricity costs, water consumption and community impacts became campaign issues in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Texas leads the nation in data centers under construction, and in September Gov. Greg Abbott directed state regulators to pause environmental permits and other approvals pending an audit of the projects' effects on the electric grid.

The issue also shaped the governor's race: Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who campaigned against rapid data center expansion, defeated Abbott. President Donald Trump has backed data center development as important to economic growth and national security, even as some Republican leaders have moved to restrict new projects.

With the council's approval, construction can begin at the Westlake site.