DEPARTMENT: City & Regional Planning
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Bridgett White, AICP
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9
SUBJECT:
City of San Antonio Annexation Program
SUMMARY:
Planning Staff will provide a briefing on annexation state law and benefits of annexation, an overview on the City of San Antonio 360 Annexation Program, the proposed annexation and financial impact analysis of commercial corridors and enclaves areas, and next steps.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In 2012, the City 360 Annexation Program was developed to serve as a guide for policy makers to identify potential areas within San Antonio’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) for annexation over a ten year period. The program provided data and analysis used to determine the direction of the annexation program and the currently proposed annexation. The annexation analysis was delineated into three geographic sectors including the West, North, and East consistent with evaluation criteria stated in the approved Annexation Policy. Criteria used in evaluating potential annexation areas are: Existing or planned level of development; Fiscal considerations; Service delivery needs; Public health, safety and welfare; Intergovernmental relations; Non-annexation agreements; Municipal Services to be provided; and Fiscal impact analysis.
On April 2014, City Council was presented with 30 potential annexation areas. In June 2014, City Council refined the 30 initial study areas into five (5) priority study areas. On December 4, 2014, the City Council 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 and the US 281 North Areas. This proposed annexation was scheduled to be completed by 2019. On December 31, 2016, the full purpose annexations of the US 281 North Commercial Corridor, which excluded the residential area, and the Southside San Antonio Areas were completed. On March 2 2017, City Council approved a non-annexation agreement with representatives of the US 281 North Residential Area. The City Council approved an interlocal agreement for the IH 10 East Area with the City of Converse for phased Municipal Boundary Adjustment and Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) Releases on March 9, 2017. (The IH 10 East area had been previously removed from the program.)
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 proposed 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 to prepare a Service Plan for these annexation areas. At June 29 meeting, Council requested a “B” Session Briefing on the City Annexation Program and proposed annexation areas.
ISSUE:
This is a briefing regarding the annexation state law and benefits of annexation, an overview on the City of San Antonio 360 Annexation Program, the proposed annexation and financial impact analysis of commercial corridors and enclaves areas, communication strategies, recommendations and next steps.
The proposed commercial corridors and enclaves 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, 8 and 9.
These annexation areas 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.
State law requires municipalities to follow annexation procedures, which include the governing body of the municipality to direct its Planning Department to prepare a Service Plan for the annexation areas, 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 Areas.
|
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 |
− First City Council Public Hearing |
|
August 9 |
− Planning Commission Hearing and Consideration |
|
August 9 |
− 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, and Zoning |
In addition to state annexation procedures, the Planning Staff conducted extensive public outreach to increase land owners awareness about the proposed annexation of enclaves and corridors. A summary of communication strategies 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 will be provided.
ALTERNATIVES:
There is no alternative associated with this briefing.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The City of San Antonio’s Office of Management & Budget will provide analysis of potential financial impact over a 20-year period. The financial impact analysis includes a 20-year financial forecast of revenues and expenditures for the provision of City services including public safety, infrastructure, operation and maintenance of infrastructure and facilities for each proposed annexation area. The analysis will be presented at the City Council B Session.
RECOMMENDATION:
Action will be required at the consideration of the annexation ordinance for each individual area.