Council backed away from requiring a conditional-use permit for every future data center while officials continue addressing a short-term rental program with an 8% compliance rate.
KILLEEN — Less than three weeks after directing city staff to require special approval for every future data center, the Killeen City Council appears to be changing course.
The City Council met jointly with the Planning and Zoning Commission Monday to discuss proposed zoning changes for data centers and short-term rentals — two very different industries that have presented Killeen with a similar problem: existing city rules were not designed with either one in mind. The meeting agenda specifically included proposed zoning amendments covering both uses. Killeen Legistar
According to reporting following Monday’s meeting, council voted 6-1 to direct staff to develop an alternative to requiring a conditional-use permit, or CUP, for every data center. Councilmember Charles Kimble reportedly made the motion, with Councilmember Mellisa Brown opposed. Official minutes from Monday’s meeting had not been published as of Tuesday morning. Power Grab TX
That would reverse the direction council gave staff on Sept. 15.
At that meeting, Brown moved to require a CUP for data centers regardless of their size. After an initial electronic voting problem, the council repeated the vote by show of hands and approved the direction 6-1, with Kimble opposed, according to official city minutes. Killeen Legistar
A CUP would subject individual projects to additional review rather than allowing them solely based on whether they comply with underlying zoning requirements.
The debate follows an unsuccessful data center proposal earlier this year. In April, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted against a conditional-use permit for ONMINE’s proposed $30 million computing facility on South Fort Hood Street after residents raised concerns over noise, electricity demand and other impacts. City staff had recommended approval, and the applicant later withdrew the request.
Killeen is not alone in rewriting its rules.
Temple approved new data center development standards in September requiring future standalone data centers to obtain conditional-use permits. The city’s new standards also address cooling systems, buffers, traffic, lighting and sound. City of Temple
While officials decide how much discretion Killeen should retain over future data centers, the city’s short-term rental problem is less theoretical.
A July audit of Killeen’s short-term rental program found just 30 of 371 identified rentals — about 8% — were fully compliant with city requirements as of the contractor’s March report. The audit defined full compliance as being registered and current on hotel occupancy taxes. Killeen, Texas
The financial results were similarly far below expectations.
Killeen collected $105,216 in short-term rental hotel occupancy taxes during fiscal year 2025, compared with the roughly $700,000 annual revenue originally projected for the program. After contractor expenses, the city’s net revenue was $72,283. Killeen, Texas
The audit recommended several possible changes, including simplifying the registration process, increasing coordinated enforcement and pursuing rules that would require booking platforms to remove unregistered properties. Killeen, Texas
On Sept. 15, council unanimously directed staff to return with recommended changes to the short-term rental program. Killeen Legistar
Neighboring Belton already uses zoning as part of its approach. Its rules generally require non-owner-occupied short-term rentals to remain at least 500 feet from another short-term rental. Belton Texas
What Killeen ultimately adopts remains unsettled.
For data centers, the central question is now whether the city can create enforceable standards for water, electricity, noise and neighboring properties without requiring every proposal to undergo a conditional-use process.
For short-term rentals, the problem is more immediate: Killeen already has rules.
Most operators simply are not following them.