DEPARTMENT: City & Regional Planning
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Bridgett White, AICP
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide, City Council Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8
SUBJECT:
First public hearing regarding the annexation of five commercial corridors and four area enclaves in Bexar County.
SUMMARY:
First public hearing regarding the annexation of five commercial corridors and four area enclaves (Annexation Areas): (A) IH 10 West Commercial Corridor, (B) Babcock Road Corridor, (C) Culebra Road - Alamo Ranch Corridor, (D) Wiseman Boulevard Corridor, (E) Potranco Road - West Loop 1604 Commercial Corridors, (F) Vance Jackson - North Loop 1604 West Tracts, (G) West Bitters Road Area, (H) Foster Road Area and (I) IH 10 East - Loop 1604 East Interchange Area adjacent to the City limits of San Antonio within the City of San Antonio’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) in Bexar County.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On December 4, 2014, the City of San Antonio (COSA) approved a two-year plan to initiate annexation of 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 Boulevard, Potranco Road, and West Loop 1604.
On June 8, 2017, City staff presented to City Council the proposed annexation of corridors and other unincorporated ETJ areas, or “enclaves,” bounded by the 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. On June 29, 2017, through a resolution, the San Antonio City Council directed the Department of City & Regional Planning (Department) to prepare a Service Plan for these annexation areas.
The proposed Annexation Areas, totaling 19.96 square miles, are contiguous to the COSA limits, within the San Antonio ETJ in Bexar County. [Maps of the proposed areas are attached as Exhibit A.] The annexation areas will be part of City Council District 2, 4, 6, and 8. 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 (5) 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 8 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 5 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 along with 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 area is adjacent to established and developing neighborhoods and planned commercial development. 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 parcels consisting of commercial (multi-family) development and undeveloped land. There are an estimated 2,363 residents in the area which will become a part of City Council District 6.
(D) The Wiseman Boulevard 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 Boulevard. 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 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 U.S. 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. This area will be 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 - U.S. 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 part of City Council District 2.
(I) The IH 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. This area will be part of City Council District 2.
The Department conducted extensive public outreach to increase land owners awareness about the proposed annexation by using various methods including mailing of notices, publishing in newspaper, providing access to the City’s annexation hotline, and annexation information online on the Department’s webpage, and holding a series of community open houses throughout the annexation areas. The Department’s webpage also displays an interactive mapping system of the annexation areas, which can be searched by property address, property owner name, or by parcel identification number. On July 3, 2017, the Department mailed all the property owners in the annexation areas a letter notifying them that their property was being considered for annexation by the City and provided the dates of the annexation public hearings. All of the notices to property owners were provided in both English and Spanish.
On July 5, 2017, the Department offered, via certified mail, 141 development (non-annexation) agreements to the property owners of land assessed as agriculture, wildlife management or timber uses for ad valorem purposes. The agreements have to be postmarked no later than July 26, 2017, or hand delivered by the close of business of July 28, 2017. The Department held extended hours for property owners with proposed development agreements on June 20, 2017. The Department’s staff was available from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., by telephone, and from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for appointments or walk-ins. Staff consists of bilingual personnel and a notary public to notarize the development agreement at no charge to residents.
A series of community annexation open houses were held at City branch libraries, including the Schafer Branch Library on July 17, 2017, the Great Northwest Branch Library on July 19, and the Igo Branch Library on July 24, 2017. The purpose of the open houses was to provide residents and property owners with an opportunity to learn about and ask questions on the proposed annexation of their area. Representatives from various City departments and external agencies also were available to provide information about City services. The postcard notices for the open houses were mailed on July 7, 2017. In addition, notices for plan amendments and zoning public hearing were published in the newspaper and mailed to the property owners. Lastly, in August the Solid Waste Management Department will mail residents about information and signing up for the City’s Solid Waste services.
ISSUE:
This is the first public hearing regarding the annexation of five commercial corridors and four area enclaves (Annexation Areas): (A) IH 10 West Commercial Corridor, (B) Babcock Road Corridor, (C) Culebra Road - Alamo Ranch Corridor, (D) Wiseman Boulevard Corridor, (E) Potranco Road - West Loop 1604 Commercial Corridors, (F) Vance Jackson - North Loop 1604 West Tracts, (G) West Bitters Road Area, (H) Foster Road Area and (I) IH 10 East - Loop 1604 East Interchange Area adjacent to the City limits of San Antonio within the City of San Antonio’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) in Bexar County. The second public hearing is scheduled to be held on August 9, 2017.
Texas cities must follow the annexation procedures designated for areas exempted from the municipal annexation plan in Subchapter C-1 of the Local Government Code, Chapter 43. State law requires that prior to the publication of the notice of the first required public hearing, the governing body of the municipality must direct its Planning Department to prepare a Service Plan for the annexation areas. On June 29, 2017, through a resolution, the San Antonio City Council directed the Department to prepare a Service Plan for these annexation areas.
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. 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.
State law requires municipalities to follow other annexation procedures, which include the publication of the public hearing notification, two public hearings by the governing body, and the adoption of the annexation ordinance. In addition, the City Charter of San Antonio requires consideration by the Planning Commission, and the publication of the annexation ordinance 30 days prior to the final adoption. Below is a proposed schedule of all required actions for the Annexation Area.
|
2017 Dates |
Required Actions |
|
June 29 |
− City Council’s Direction to Prepare Service Plan |
|
July 3 |
− Written Notification to Property Owners |
|
July 31 |
− Publish Annexation Ordinance |
|
August 2 (6 p.m.) |
− First City Council Public Hearing |
|
August 9 (2 p.m.) |
− Planning Commission Hearing and Consideration |
|
August 9 (6 p.m.) |
− Second City Council Public Hearing |
|
August 15 |
− Zoning Commission Hearing and Consideration |
|
August 31 |
− City Council Consideration and Action on the Annexation Ordinance, Adoption of the Service Plan, Development Agreements, Plan Amendments and Zoning |
ALTERNATIVES:
There is no alternative associated with this public hearing.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The City’s Management & Budget Office is currently preparing a financial impact study for this Annexation Area.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a Public Hearing with future City Council consideration.