San Antonio City Council has declared an annexation election that many city officials already concede will lose, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The areas in the target plan for annexation include much of unincorporated northwest Bexar County north of Grey Forest and Boerne Stage Road, along and mainly west of I-10, skirting Fair Oaks Ranch to the Kendall County line; and the areas along HIghway 90 and Loop 1604 west of Lackland AFB and Lackland Annex.
A total of roughly 60,000 people live in the areas to be considered for annexation. A 2017 state law bars cities from annexing residential areas without the consent of the people living in the areas.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg says the reason the election is being held is so the City can implement zoning and development control measures that the military has said are necessary to protect Lackland and Camp Bullis. He says military training at the two posts requires, for example, light and noise control, and under Texas law, only city governments can provide that.
"This is not a 'nice to have'," Nirenberg said. "The 49 billion economic impact to the City of San Antonio and the military is important. It creates jobs, it supports families."
Nirenberg pointed out that San Antonio is the home to the largest 'Joint Base' in the country, and as 'Military City USA,' the City government has an obligation to work with the military to make sure the mission of the bases succeeds, especially with more military base closings in the near future a certainty.
Under the state law, if the annexation proposal fails, the City still has the right to implement development and land use controls to regulate those issues, even though residents of the areas will not pay city property taxes or receive city services.
Councilman Rey Saldana says he opposes 'urban sprawl' and is not a big fan of annexation, but he sees the need for this vote.
"If I were trying to manage a city, I would try to invest in older areas, so we would not expand the amount of fire stations, police stations," he said.
The vote will take place on the November Election Day.
Residents of the areas covered by the annexation proposal will soon be notified and will be given the opportunity to attend public hearings on the issue.
The debate was also marked by a flare-up between Nirenberg and Brockhouse, who is widely regarded as a likely challenger to Nirenberg in the 2019 mayor's race.
At one point, Brockhouse declared that he has 'no faith in the mayor's leadership' after Nirenberg cut him off when he was questioning City Planning Director Bridgett White about the annexation plan. NIrenberg then cut Brockhouse off again.