In short: Lubbock’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6–0 Thursday night to recommend staff Unified Development Code amendments on large-scale data centers — and related power generation, transmission and distribution — to the City Council. The chair named Dec. 1 as the expected council timing. This is a recommendation, not a final city decision.
Lubbock’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, Nov. 5, recommended the city’s proposed rules for large-scale data centers to the City Council.
The commission voted 6–0 to send staff Unified Development Code amendments on Large-Scale Data Centers and Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution to council. The item was listed as Agenda Item 4.1. Under the posted agenda, the commission “makes recommendation; City Council has final authority for approval.”
What changed in the motion
Commissioners approved the staff recommendation with one change on the motion: the ERCOT-required power study shall satisfy the city’s power-study requirement, amending “may” language in the draft.
In plain terms, if ERCOT already requires a power study for a project, that study would meet Lubbock’s local power-study requirement under the version the commission sent forward — rather than leaving that as optional wording.
What this vote is — and isn’t
Thursday’s action does not approve a data center project, set a water-fee dollar amount, or finish the city’s separate moratorium process. It is a recommendation that the council take up zoning standards that would define large-scale data centers and how they could be reviewed as a specific use.
Our earlier preview walked through the draft standards, how to weigh in, and what was still open before the meeting: Lubbock data center rules head to P&Z Thursday.
What’s next at City Council
After the vote, the chair said the amendments will go to City Council and named Dec. 1 as the expected timing. That matches what Planning Director Kristen Sager previously told Hub City UnCovered in writing: if P&Z made a recommendation Nov. 5, council would consider the amendments at its regular Dec. 1 meeting.
Council still has the final say. Anything adopted there would still leave project-by-project reviews, water-fee details in a separate ordinance, and the pending moratorium track on their own paths.
Also Thursday night
After Item 4.1, the agenda ended. Before adjournment, outgoing commissioner Renee Cage was recognized.
Separately, KCBD covered a zoning vote from the same meeting involving an asphalt/batch-plant zone case — not Item 4.1. As of Thursday night, the city had not posted official minutes for the Nov. 5 meeting on Agenda Center, and we did not see a City of Lubbock press release on the data-center UDC item in the press inbox.
How to follow the recording
The city streamed the meeting. You can watch the recording on the city’s Swagit archive or the City of Lubbock YouTube stream. The posted agenda and packet list Item 4.1 as the UDC amendments for large-scale data centers and related power facilities.
We’ll update this story when official minutes post or when the council agenda for Dec. 1 is published with the item.
Sources
- City of Lubbock Planning and Zoning Commission meeting recording (Swagit), Nov. 5, 2026: https://lubbocktx.new.swagit.com/videos/406143
- City of Lubbock YouTube stream of the same meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGa_VLU8iGU
- City of Lubbock P&Z agenda, Nov. 5, 2026 (Item 4.1): https://www.mylubbock.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11052026-280
- City of Lubbock P&Z packet, Nov. 5, 2026: https://www.mylubbock.us/DocumentCenter/View/11585/November-5-2026-PZC-Packet_Redacted-pdf
- City of Lubbock Agenda Center — Planning and Zoning Commission (minutes not yet posted for Nov. 5 as of late Thursday): https://www.mylubbock.us/AgendaCenter/Planning-and-Zoning-Commission-3
- Hub City UnCovered preview, Nov. 4, 2026: Lubbock data center rules head to P&Z Thursday
- KCBD coverage of a separate zoning vote from the same meeting (asphalt/zone case), not Item 4.1: Lubbock commission votes against recommending zoning change for asphalt plant
