DEPARTMENT: Planning & Community Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Bridgett White, AICP
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Council Districts 4, 6 and 8
SUBJECT:
A Resolution directing the Department of Planning & Community Development to prepare Service Plans for the following Annexation Areas: (A) IH 10 West Commercial Corridor, (B) Babcock Road Commercial Corridor, (C) Culebra Road - Alamo Ranch Commercial Corridor, (D) Wiseman Road Commercial Corridor, (E) Potranco Road - West Loop 1604 Commercial Corridors, (F) Vance Jackson - North Loop 1604 West Tracts, (G) West Bitters Road Tracts, (H) Foster Road Area and (I) IH 10 East - Loop 1604 East Interchange Area in Bexar County.
SUMMARY:
This Resolution directs the Department of Planning & Community Development to prepare Service Plans for the following Annexation Areas: (A) the IH 10 West Commercial Corridor, (B) Babcock Road Commercial Corridor, (C) Culebra Road - Alamo Ranch Parkway Commercial Corridors, (D) Wiseman Road Commercial Corridor and (E) Potranco Road - West Loop 1604 Commercial Corridors, (F) Vance Jackson - North Loop 1604 West Tracts, (G) West Bitters Road Tracts, (H) Foster Road Area and (I) IH 10 East - Loop 1604 East Interchange Area, which are contiguous to the City of San Antonio (COSA) limits, within the San Antonio extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) in Bexar County.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On December 4, 2014, the City of San Antonio approved a two-year plan to initiate limited purpose annexation of Interstate Highway (IH) 10 West, U.S. Highway 281 North, and IH 10 East in Phase 1; and the Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) and Alamo Ranch Annexation Areas in Phase 2. In October 2015, the proposed annexations were postponed to assess the full purpose annexation areas’ financial and growth assumptions and conformance with the SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan’s annexation policies.
On September 8, 2016, City Council adopted a Municipal Annexation Plan, which included the IH 10 West Area. This proposed annexation was scheduled to be completed by 2019. On May 25, 2017, City staff presented alternate scenarios for the IH 10 West, Lackland AFB and Alamo Ranch Annexation Areas based on the feedback received from the SA Tomorrow process and discussions with City Council. The alternate scenario proposes full purpose annexation of the commercial corridors along IH 10 West, Babcock Road, Culebra Road, Alamo Ranch Parkway, Wiseman Road, Potranco Road, and West Loop 1604. [A map of the proposed areas is attached as Exhibit A.]
On June 8, 2017, City staff presented to City Council the proposed annexation of corridors and other unincorporated extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJ) areas, or “enclaves”, bounded by the City of San Antonio (COSA) limits. These include parcels of land bisected by COSA limits, which are partially located inside and outside of COSA’s jurisdiction. Residents and businesses located within split parcels and enclaves may experience uncertainty with jurisdictional regulations, public safety response times and service delivery. These proposed annexations would provide more logical planning boundaries, uniform regulations and consistent service delivery to the entire tracts of land and the property owners.
These proposed annexations are exempt from the state legal requirements for inclusion into a municipal annexation plan because each area contains less than 100 separate tracts of land where one or more residential dwellings are located. Texas cities must follow the annexation process for areas exempted from the municipal annexation plan, as described in Subchapter C-1 of Local Government Code, Chapter 43.
The proposed Annexation Areas, totaling 19.96 square miles, are contiguous to the COSA limits, within the San Antonio ETJ in Bexar County. The annexation areas will be part of City Council District 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9. The Annexation Areas are described as below:
(A) The IH 10 West Corridor consists of approximately 0.89 square miles and is generally located north of Ralph Fair Road and to the south of Woodland Parkway. The area falls within the five mile buffer of Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley military installations. The Annexation Area’s primary existing land use is commercial use. This area contains 104 parcels, of which only eight are single family residential. There are approximately 22 residents in the area. This area will be a part of City Council District 8.
(B) The Babcock Road Corridor consists of approximately 1.82 square miles area bisected by Babcock Road; located south of Cielo Vista, bounded by the western and northern COSA limits. The area is within the five mile buffer of Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley military installations. Approximately 40% of the area falls within the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. This area contains habitat land for several federally listed threatened and endangered species.
The Annexation Area’s existing land use is commercial including multi-family use, park, open space and undeveloped land use. This area contains open space land owned by the City-San Antonio Water Systems and a private golf course. There is planned residential development along Kyle Seale and Babcock Roads. There are potential commercial centers at the intersections of Kyle Seale, Camp Bullis and Babcock Roads. The area contains 46 parcels, of which only 10 are single family residential parcels. There are approximately 650 residents in the area. This area will become a part of City Council District 8.
(C) The Culebra Road - Alamo Ranch Parkway Corridors consisting of approximately 0.6 square miles is generally located south of the Culebra Road COSA Limits, to the west of the Western City limits near West Loop 1604, south of Alamo Ranch Parkway and east of Alamo Parkway and Lone Star Parkway. The existing land use is commercial-multifamily developments and undeveloped land. The area is adjacent to established and developing neighborhoods and planned commercial development in this area. It is in close proximity to several major employers including information technology and data centers, medical facilities, research centers and commercial centers. There are a total of 52 undeveloped parcels. There are an estimated 2,363 residents in the area, most of whom are living in multi-family housing consisting of less than 100 rooftops. This area will become a part of City Council District 6.
(D) The Wiseman Road Corridor consisting of approximately 1.96 square miles is generally located from the Western COSA Limits, to the east of Talley Road. The area’s existing land use is vacant but there is planned commercial and residential development along Wiseman Road. It is in close proximity to rapid developing neighborhoods, several major employers, including Northwest Vista College, data centers, medical facilities, research centers and commercial centers. There are a total of 25 undeveloped parcels. This area will be a part of City Council District 6.
(E) The Potranco Road - West Loop 1604 Corridors consist of approximately 8.27 square miles generally located south of West Military Drive, west of the Western City limits near West Loop 1604, north of Nelson Road, and east of West Grosenbacher Road. The area abuts the Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) Training Annex. There are emerging commercial corridors along West Loop 1604, Potranco Road and Marbach Road. Future commercial development is slated around the West Loop 1604 and US 90 West Interchange. This area contains 221 parcels, of which 39 are single family residential. There are approximately 105 residents in the area. This area will become a part of City Council District 4.
(F) The Vance Jackson - North Loop 1604 West Tracts, consists of approximately 0.1 square miles which are generally located north of Loop 1604, west of Military Drive and to the east of Vance Jackson. The area falls within the five mile buffer of Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley military installations and within the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. The area’s existing land use is commercial, agriculture and vacant use. This area contains a total of 10 parcels of land. It will become a part of City Council District 8.
(G) The West Bitters Road Tracts consisting of approximately 0.02 square miles is generally located north of West Bitters Road, in between Treasure Trail and Wolf Creek Street. The area is within the five mile buffer of Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley military installations. The area includes The Alley at Bitters, a shopping destination and a small established neighborhood. There are approximately 65 residents within this area. This area will become a part of City Council District 9.
(H) The Foster Road Area consisting of approximately 3.94 square miles, generally located along North and South Foster Road, south of IH 10 East, west of FM 1516, North of Rigby US 87 and east of Loop 410 East which serve as industrial corridors in southeast Bexar County. This area’s existing use consists of commercial, agriculture, residential and vacant land. The area includes Lancer Corporation, the Dollar General Distribution Center and a portion of the Tessman Road Landfill. It includes existing and planned industrial parks located along Foster Road. There are approximately 148 residents in the area. This area will be a part of City Council District 2.
(I) The H 10 East - Loop 1604 East Interchange consists of approximately 2.36 square miles which are generally located south of IH 10 East, west of Old Graytown Road, north of Graytown Road and east of FM 1516. The existing land use includes agriculture, residential and commercial uses. This area contains approximately 51 residents. There is potential for more commercial development related to the trucking industry along the corridor. This area will become a part of City Council District 2.
ISSUE:
This Resolution directs the Department of Planning & Community Development to prepare Service Plans, respectively, for the following Annexation Areas: (A) the IH 10 West Commercial Corridor, (B) Babcock Road Corridor, (C) Culebra - Alamo Ranch Corridor, (D) Wiseman Road Corridor and (E) Potranco Road - West Loop 1604 (F) Vance Jackson - North Loop 1604 West Tracts, (G) West Bitters Road Tracts, (H) Foster Road Area and (I) IH 10 East - Loop 1604 East Interchange Area, in Bexar County.
The proposed annexations would protect the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone and preserve the U.S. military missions through land use control and the quality of development including emerging residential developments and commercial centers through the extension of zoning and city codes. The proposed annexation would expand the city’s economic vitality as a regional center by providing certainty and predictability, facilitate long range planning in environmentally sensitive areas and growth centers, and enhance the City’s overall regional economic position.
The proposed annexation is consistent with the recently adopted SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan Goals:
• Growth and City Form (GCF) Goal 3: Strategic annexation benefits existing and future city residents and does not burden the City fiscally.
• Military (M) Goal 1: Incompatible land uses in the vicinity of Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) locations are minimized in order to safeguard operational mission requirements.
Additionally, the annexation is consistent with the City’s Annexation Policy to:
• Protect the City’s ability to expand city limits
• Extend regulations before development occurs
• Ensure areas benefitting from proximity to the city are contributing revenue
• Annex areas where unregulated development could have an adverse impact on military mission/operations or an adverse environmental impact.
State law requires that prior to the publication of the notice of the first required public hearing, the City Council must direct its Planning Department to prepare a Service Plan for areas exempted from a Municipal Annexation Plan. The proposed annexation will expand San Antonio’s municipal boundaries and the public service areas.
Areas may be reduced and/or removed from consideration of annexation based on the continued planning and analysis that is being done to complete the Service Plan.
Each Service Plan will address City services to be implemented and necessary capital improvements to be provided by the municipality after the areas have been annexed. All of the Service Plans will be made available to the public using various mediums and will be available for review at public facilities within, or near, the annexation areas. In addition, all of the Service Plans along with maps, public hearing dates, and contact information, will be available on the Department of Planning & Community Development’s webpage. An interactive mapping system on the Department’s webpage will display the annexation areas, and can be searched by property address, the property owner name, or by parcel identification number.
State law requires that the municipality follow other annexation procedures, which includes the publication of the public hearing notification, two public hearings by the governing body and the adoption of the annexation ordinance. Additionally, the City Charter of San Antonio requires consideration by the Planning Commission, and the publishing of the annexation ordinance 30 days prior to the final adoption. Below is a proposed schedule for the annexation areas.
|
2017 Dates |
Required Actions |
|
June 29 |
− City Council’s Direction to Prepare Service Plans |
|
August 2 |
− First City Council Public Hearing |
|
August 3 |
− Second City Council Public Hearing |
|
August 9 |
− Planning Commission Hearing and Consideration |
|
August 15 |
− Zoning Commission Hearing and Consideration |
|
August 31 |
− City Council Consideration and Action of Annexation Ordinances, Adoption of the Service Plans, Development Agreements, and Zoning |
|
August 31 |
− Effective Date of Annexation Ordinance |
ALTERNATIVES:
A denial of the resolution would result in the proposed annexation areas remaining within the unincorporated territory of Bexar County.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with directing the Department to prepare Service Plans for the Annexation Areas. The City’s Office of Management and Budget currently is preparing a financial impact study for the annexation areas.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of a resolution directing the Department of Planning & Community Development to prepare Service Plans for the following Annexation Areas: (A) the IH 10 West Commercial Corridor; (B) the Babcock Road Corridor (C) the Wiseman Boulevard Corridor; and (D) the West Loop 1604 Corridor, (E) Potranco Road - West Loop 1604 Corridors (updated June 26, 2017), (F) Vance Jackson - North Loop 1604 West Tracts, (G) West Bitters Road Tracts, (H) Foster Road Area and (I) IH 10 East - Loop 1604 East Interchange Area, all in Bexar County.