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STARBASE — City commissioners voted unanimously Monday to approve the annexation of about 7,133 acres of land and voted to approve the voluntary annexation of 444 acres of land recently disannexed by Brownsville.
Commissioners also approved a resolution of intent to annex State Highway 4, the long span of public road that connects the rural SpaceX launch site to Brownsville.
The city gained signatures in support of the annexation from more than 50% of landowners whose property is within the 7,133-acre area, according to the annexation ordinance that commissioners voted on. It said that the annexation will “establish clear, cohesive municipal boundaries; reduce jurisdictional confusion; (and) improve coordination with local, state, and federal partners” in law enforcement. It will also improve public safety, essential services and long-term planning, the ordinance states.
Mayor Bobby Peden and commissioners Jordan Buss and Lois Wallace declined to comment on the annexation.
Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, read public comments prior to the vote on behalf of landowners affected by the annexation who live out-of-state and could not be present to speak in-person. Hinojosa criticized city officials for, she said, disallowing landowners to submit public comments via email, virtually or to watch the meeting online.
The city appeared to be recording the meeting via Microsoft Teams, but it’s not clear if the recording will be made available to the public.
“We’ve been talking to impacted landowners who do not want to get sucked up into the city of Starbase and be forced to live in a town that is ruled by SpaceX employees and where Elon Musk has a lot of control,” Hinojosa told The Herald, adding that residents are concerned about the environmental impacts, more rocket launches and of what may done with the land. “It’s clear they’re intentionally not being transparent and making meetings inaccessible to impacted land owners.”
Landowner Rabin Gavriel said in comments read by Hinojosa that Starbase has not provided satisfactory proof that 50% of landowners signed the legally required petition for annexation.
“I truly believe the reason Starbase City and the SpaceX corporation are following this route is it’s the cheaper one instead of claiming imminent domain,” Gavriel wrote, “as if they did that they would have to pay us the going rate…”
Landowner Barb Buckner said she paid $99 for a public records request containing the annexation petition signatures, adding that the city produced “12 signature pages, apparently representing approximately 11 ownership records.” She said city officials should clarify how many landowners own property in the affected area and how many signed before voting.
“At a time when I should be focusing my energy on cancer treatment, I have instead spent countless hours fighting for answers and transparency that should never have been this difficult to obtain,” she wrote in her public comments.
Landowner Gerald Podraza said he opposed the annexation over concerns that it would lead to property tax increases to cover city services and other “unanticipated outcomes.”
The 7,133-acre area will also add to Starbase’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, the area just outside city limits where some municipal regulations would still apply.
Starbase City Administrator Cayetana Polanco said during the meeting that the annexation does not require landowners to change how they use their land.
The annexation vote came on the same day that a federal court rejected a motion for an emergency injunction to halt a land swap between SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The deal would privatize 727 acres of public land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge by giving it to SpaceX in exchange for 683 acres of currently private land.
Starbase commissioners also approved the annexation of about 444 acres of land that was disannexed by Brownsville in August at the request of SpaceX, along with expanding the extraterritorial jurisdiction accordingly.
Brownsville commissioners voted to disannex the land after a tense public meeting, during which some residents protested the move but a SpaceX representative said the company would walk away from a $220 million water infrastructure funding agreement with the city without approval of the disannexation that night.
Starbase received a request for voluntary annexation of the 444-acre property from SpaceX, which was in the process of purchasing the land during the Brownsville disannexation vote on Aug. 28. A municipal services agreement between Starbase and SpaceX is dated on Monday.
The commission also voted to approve a resolution stating the city’s intent to annex about 123 acres of State Highway 4 right-of-way on Nov. 18. The city must create a municipal service plan for the annexed area. The annexed highway would go from Starbase city limits to the 444 acres of newly annexed land.
The annexations come as the city of Brownsville prepares to celebrate Brownsville Space Fest, a three-day downtown festival of science and robotics that begins Thursday. It is co-sponsored by SpaceX, along with economic development, governmental and science organizations.
The South Texas Environmental Justice Network is hosting a counter-festival, called Fuera SpaceX Fest, on the same dates that will culminate with protests Saturday on Boca Chica Beach near Starbase and in Brownsville.