Westlake, Texas is the town at the center of the live Circle T data center dispute. On August 17, 2026, a Tarrant County judge intervened shortly before the Westlake Town Council was scheduled to consider the project’s development agreement.
The distinction matters because the current pause came from a court order, not from a Westlake moratorium. Keller, the neighboring city where many of the closest residents live, is pursuing a separate regulatory and legal response.
What actually happened in Westlake
Judge Kimberly Fitzpatrick of the 342nd State District Court in Fort Worth signed a temporary restraining order about an hour before the Westlake Town Council meeting. The operative order restrained Westlake from voting on, approving, adopting or taking action to implement Resolution 26-25, the resolution concerning the Circle T development agreement. After hearing from more than 30 speakers in opposition and meeting for roughly 20 minutes in executive session, council members voted unanimously to table the item.
The project is the Circle T Data Center, a roughly 88-acre site inside Westlake town limits at the northern edge of Keller. Reporting places the site about 500 feet from the backyards of several Keller residents in the Lakes at Marshall Ridge neighborhood. The homeowners association and two residents brought the court challenge…