Prosper's Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 1, to recommend denial of Project Tomahawk, a proposed $580 million data center near FM 1385 and Parvin Road.

The unanimous recommendation sends the application to Prosper Town Council, which is scheduled to take up the case Tuesday, Sept. 8. Developer White Rose Partners sought to rezone 37.3 acres from agricultural to a planned development for the facility, and to change the Future Land Use Plan from residential and retail to business park.

Public testimony lasted more than an hour and ran almost entirely against the project. Town staff had received over 400 written comments in opposition before the hearing, according to Commissioner Josh Carson. Only three people spoke in favor, and two of those said their support was conditional on stricter development standards.

The vote was decisive.

Commissioner Brett Butler said the development does not fit the town's long-term strategic vision. Commissioner Glen Blanscet said the commission needed far more detail on noise, power and permitted uses before it could move forward.

Mayor David Bristol took the unusual step of appearing at the P&Z hearing as a private citizen to urge denial. Bristol said officials lack guidelines for data centers at both the local and state level, and stressed he would receive no financial benefit from the project.

"I urge this body to deny this zoning case and deny the change to the Future Land Use Plan tonight," Bristol said.

A bipartisan coalition organized much of the opposition. Katie Murray, a Democratic precinct chair in Little Elm's Union Park neighborhood, formed a group chat with 11 Republican and Democratic precinct chairs from Pilot Point, Celina, Aubrey and Little Elm. The group created Prosper Residents for Responsible Land Use and collected more than 1,600 petition signatures as of Sept. 1, Community Impact reported.

Aileen Blakowski, a Republican precinct chair and Prosper resident affiliated with the group, also spoke against the project at the hearing.

Commissioners pressed White Rose Partners representatives on noise levels, power consumption and permitted uses. Many details would not be finalized until later in the development process, project representatives said. The developer cannot secure a tenant until the project receives initial approval, and the building's square footage could change depending on how much power the site can draw, managing partner Jeff Eigenbrood said.

The proposed facility would be roughly 225,000 square feet, occupying about 20% of the property, according to David Hoover, Prosper's director of Development Services. White Rose Partners estimated the center would create 20 to 50 permanent jobs and generate up to $2.5 million in annual revenue for Prosper through sales and franchise tax, company representative John Varin said.

Speakers questioned the accuracy of noise studies commissioned by White Rose Partners. The planned development would cap noise at 65 decibels, a level Blanscet described as between an air conditioner and a vacuum cleaner.

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a pause on new data center approvals in August pending a comprehensive audit by ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission, Houston Public Media reported. That review covers roughly 300 large projects and is not expected to finish until December. State legislators said at a Sept. 1 hearing that they plan to propose tighter data center regulations in the 2027 session.

As of Sept. 1, Eigenbrood declined to say whether White Rose Partners would continue pursuing the application. The Town Council hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Prosper Town Hall, 250 W. First St.