Citizens in Hillsboro, Texas, flocked to a public meeting to express concerns about a data center potentially being built in the city.

A 300-acre site currently owned by Hillsboro’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) could house the data center campus. Real estate firm Provident Realty Advisors is looking to buy the land from the EDC to facilitate the project.

The site is in the north of Hillsboro, adjacent to the city’s industrial park, and is already zoned for heavy industrial use.

A public meeting held on Friday, April 24, saw residents line up to have their say on the proposals, with many opposing the arrival of a data center in their city, according to local news outlet the Hillsboro Reporter.

The EDC has approved a four-month extension of its pre-sale contract with Provident Realty Advisors, giving it more time to do due diligence work before deciding whether to sell the land.

According to its website, Provident Realty Advisors is developing data centers in eight US states through its data center platform, Provident Data Centers. These include multiple sites in Texas, such as a 768-acre project in Dallas which it is working on in conjunction with PowerHouse.

The concerns of the people of Hillsboro, a small city located between Dallas and Waco, echo those being expressed across the US by communities opposing data centers, with protests and plans for moratoriums on new developments becoming commonplace.