At citizens’ request, City Council reannexes land

Some property owners object to the rules and fees governing use of their land in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and seek to escape from those rules. But their neighbors may not agree. City Council took action during their final meeting of 2024 to bring some property owners back into the city’s ETJ as they requested.

As a result of passage of a 2023 law governing disannexation, it is very easy for a property owner to disannex their property from a city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. Under Senate Bill 2038, a property owner can request disannexation for an entire area – even if the neighbors are unaware or opposed. If the majority of property owners vote for the disannexation, then their property is no longer part of the city’s ETJ.

However, those property owners who request disannexation before the election have the right to request that the city add their property to the city’s ETJ once again.

According to a memo from city staff, “In June of 2024, a resident landowner filed a petition for an election to remove approximately 100 acres from the City’s ETJ pursuant to Texas Local Government Code (LGC) Chapter 42, Subchapter E.” The properties are on Menchaca Road and Old Manchaca Road.

In December, Council heard from three property owners who wanted their property taken into the ETJ again after disannexation.

Susan Harris told Council her 7-acre property was included in a request for disannexation “without notice to us, without our consent, and entirely against our wishes. And after a steep learning curve and much strategizing, we decided that under Senate Bill 2038, which is the bill that’s harming us in this case, we would use that to protect ourselves. And we petitioned the city to release our property voluntarily from the ETJ,” so they could come back and ask to rejoin the ETJ.

She noted that Council had no discretion in releasing their property. Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said, “I just want to thank the resident for coming to us to share a little bit more context about this item and I just want to underscore the impacts of that legislation and what it’s had on communities across our state.” She noted that it was “unfortunate that you had to undertake such a process to get re-annexed into the city’s ETJ and that you had to go through this. And so, I just want to appreciate your time and your interest and just really put a spotlight on this harmful legislation.”

Shelby Ranch Investments LP also owns property in the area that is in the final stages of developing an apartment complex. City staff wrote, “Throughout the development process Shelby Ranch Investments, LP has worked within the City’s development regulations applicable in the ETJ. Shelby Ranch Investments, LP is requesting the City re-include their property in the City’s ETJ.” That property was also returned to the ETJ.

The third area property owner requesting return to the ETJ was the Southwest Christian Church. Attorney Chris Bradford of Jackson Walker spoke on behalf of the church, saying, “This is a parallel to one you heard before lunch. The church is part of … the Manchaca area, in which a petition to exclude the properties from the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction was filed. They learned about it right before this Council, again without any discretion, you know, approved the election and they didn’t have a right to vote in the election or anything. So, they want to get back into the city’s ETJ.”

The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance has released a report on the impacts of the bill on land use, planning and water supplies in Central Texas. The group says, “Since the law’s implementation, hundreds of petitions for release from extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs), totaling thousands of acres, have been submitted to and approved by cities throughout Central Texas. Released areas will be subject only to county and state regulations, which are much less protective than city regulations. These releases could put much of the land over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone and throughout the environmentally sensitive Edwards and Trinity Aquifer watersheds at risk of environmental degradation, threatening the health, safety, and quality of life of Texans.”

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