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There remains some confusion about the City of College Station’s intent and philosophy as it relates to the Wellborn community and annexation. We’d like to offer some information that provides additional insight into this issue and how it’s viewed by the City of College Station.
The city and these residents share many of the same goals for Wellborn; however, we believe they can be achieved through methods other than incorporation. City staff recently has reached out to the residents to discuss some of these options, and we hope it leads to more productive talks very soon.
Does College Station intend to annex Wellborn?
City staff has no intent to recommend annexation of any part of Wellborn for at least three years, and likely even longer. Chapter 8 of the city’s Comprehensive Plan – the city’s guiding document for growth that’s a result of thousands of citizen volunteer hours – does propose consideration of annexation within the next three to 10 years. Further, Chapter 2 of the Compressive Plan provides a discussion of community character and proposes the creation of a future district plan that respects the appeal of the Wellborn community. It states, in part:
“The area contains elements of a rural historic community (e.g., cemetery, community center, post office) which contribute to a unique character that the area residents have stated a strong preference to retain. The focus of this district plan should be working with the residents to identify and retain the elements of the community that contribute to its rural character.”
That said, there remains the option of engaging Wellborn residents about a small-area plan, but it would be done in the spirit of working together prior to any movement by city staff to bring forward an annexation discussion to the city council. City staff believes there are ways to preserve the rural nature of the Wellborn community without incorporation or annexation, and wants to ensure that these options are discussed with the residents.
It’s important to note that the only reason any recent annexation discussions have occurred inside College Station City Hall is because the College Station Independent School District purchased land in that area for a future school campus. Because CSISD expects services to be extended to their future campus, it requires College Station annexing that acreage. But this is the only property currently being considered for annexation.
What are some of the steps involved with Wellborn citizens initiating incorporation or annexation with regards to the City of College Station?
Here is a section of the Local Government Code called Municipal Incorporation in Extra-territorial Jurisdiction:
"A municipality may not be incorporated in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of an existing municipality unless the governing body of the existing municipality gives its written consent by ordinance or resolution…"
City commentary: Since the Wellborn community lies entirely inside the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the City of College Station, Texas law states that the College Station City Council must provide written permission for Wellborn to proceed with incorporation.
There are other steps to incorporation not listed here, including an election by the residents and discussions involving the provision of services such as law enforcement, fire protection and road/street maintenance. Much of this dialogue would be with Brazos County, as they are the entity that currently provides these services to the Wellborn community.
Any annexation discussion also would include provision of services to this area and the associated costs to the city. The city has no immediate plans to annex this area and was planning on using the 3-10 year timeframe stated in the Comprehensive Plan to engage in discussion with the residents to discuss their vision for the area, the type of development they would like to see in Wellborn, and the most-effective means to reach that goal. Realistically, it will be the latter part of that 3-10 year timeframe.
Negative impacts of cities allowing communities to incorporate within the ETJWhile allowing Wellborn to incorporate within College Station’s ETJ would reduce city staff’s future workload and responsibilities, there are many ways in which incorporation could negatively affect College Station residents:
Loss of ability to influence College Station’s growth and developmentCollege Station is a vibrant and growing city, but because the City of Bryan and its ETJborders College Station to the north, west and east, the only direction to accommodate our growth is southward.
Also, by granting Wellborn permission to incorporate within our ETJ, we forfeit any ability to employ zoning; therefore, we lose the most important tool in terms of influencing the character of future growth in that area.
Loss of future tax revenueLike all cities, College Station relies on revenue in order to provide services for its citizens. Those revenues come from a variety of sources, such as sales tax, property tax, sanitation bills and permit fees. Should Wellborn be allowed to incorporate within our ETJ, College Station would forfeit any future revenues from that growth area.
Deviates from growth plan developed by CS citizensIn May 2009, the College Station City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan, which outlines the city’s vision for future growth and development. The plan was directly influenced by significant citizen participation. Chapter 8 of the Comprehensive Plan speaks to growth management and includes an extensive discussion on how and when future annexation should occur. The plan never envisioned a scenario where Wellborn was allowed to incorporate within our ETJ.
Incorporation is nearly irreversibleDecisions made now will significantly impact College Station’s growth pattern into the future. Cutting off the city’s only area for expansion essentially means that growth and development must occur entirely within the current city limits. It’s projected that College Station will reach a population of 100,000 by 2013.
Downloaded from http://www.cstx.gov/wellborn at 19:38 pm, February 12, 2010
