Project Comal data center, Taylor, Texas

Project Comal, a data center campus planned by the Dallas developer KDC next to Samsung's chip plant in Taylor, Williamson County, Texas, was approved by the Taylor City Council on March 26, 2026, over residents' objections. The council voted unanimously to annex the last 48 acres of the site and rezone it for the project. In July the council refused to act on a citizens' petition, signed by more than 1,400 residents, that would have paused data center approvals across the city.

KDC plans six large buildings on the 220-acre site at 1051 County Road 401, next to Samsung's 1,200-acre chip campus. The site plan lists two substations, and Data Center Dynamics reported the project would offer 360 megawatts of power from the utility Oncor. The Taylor Press reported 180 backup generators, and KDC also plans about 10 acres of retail and office space fronting FM 973. Company officials have not named a tenant but told earlier meetings it is a "large brand name."

The Taylor Economic Development Corp. estimated $145.9 million in net benefits to the city and $70.7 million to Taylor ISD over 10 years. Residents had fought the project since it reached the Planning and Zoning Commission in November 2025, filling the council chamber in March over rising utility bills and a lack of transparency. "We're not being heard," resident Carrie D'Anna told the council.

To answer the objections, the city wrote custom zoning with KDC: a closed-loop cooling system capped at 5 million gallons per building for the first fill, 30 million gallons across six buildings, with more water needing the city manager's approval. It also requires a 300-foot landscaped buffer from the Castlewood South subdivision, a nighttime noise limit of 70 decibels at the property line and generator exhausts pointed away from homes, and KDC agreed to give $75,000 for parks and land for a future fire station.

"I hear the request for moratorium, but we've got a developer who has not shied away from answering the questions," Mayor Dwayne Ariola said. The Halt Taylor Data Center Coalition submitted a citizen-initiated ordinance on June 11 that would have paused current data center projects and barred new ones until Taylor creates a dedicated zoning district for them. On July 9 the city said the council would take no action and would not put it on the ballot.

"State law does not allow a city to enact or change its zoning by popular vote," Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Cmerek said. Organizer Sarah Winters called the handling of it "shady, shady business," and D'Anna said: "That's humiliating." Taylor's other data center project, Blueprint Data Centers, is planned for the southeast side of the city; the city says it is the only project it has given economic incentives.

The rezoning does not finish Project Comal's approvals. KDC still must obtain water from the city or another provider and win approval of a site plan and a range of permits, the city says. The Taylor City Council has directed staff and the consultant Freese and Nichols to write an ordinance regulating data centers' water use, noise, light, air pollution and buffers from homes, to be shared for public input before adoption.