A turf war is brewing between the city of Corpus Christi and San Patricio County.
Earlier this week, the city council approved a resolution to annex some 1,500 acres of land in the county. Although Corpus Christi’s plan for annexation is allowed by state law, San Pat County Judge David Krebs says it doesn’t sit well with him.
“[The] city of Corpus Christi could basically be owning or have within their city limits probably half of San Patricio County and it’s not fair,” Krebs told KRIS 6 News.
The city’s move has to do with the proposed ExxonMobil-SABIC plastics plant. The site lies within Corpus Christi’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, which is five miles past city limits.
Krebs fears that if this land is annexed, it could lead to the county losing more land.
“We consider it a little bit of a GREED with all capital letters is what we look at it as in San Pat County,” Krebs said. “Nobody knows over there what’s going on in our county.”
However, mayor Joe McComb told KRIS 6 News there have been negotiations with the city of Portland to allow them to keep some land. We’ve now learned that process is different and a part of talks that date back years.
City planning director Dan McGinn says it’s called a “session agreement” and the timing of both processes going on simultaneously is “more coincidental and they’re not dependent on each other.”
Meantime, Krebs is focused on a bill now being considered in Austin that would ban the annexations like the one of La Quinta Corridor without approval from commissioners in the affected county.That legislation was drafted by State Rep. J.M. Lozano, whose district includes San Pat County.
He admits it gives officials a “slim chance” of stopping the annexation but he’s hopeful. Krebs said the bill would have to be passed by both the State House and State Senate by a two-thirds majority before May 21, the scheduled date for Corpus Christi city council to take a final vote on annexation.
“Maybe we can stop it. We’re going to fight it and see what we can do.”
Meanwhile, McGinn said that since the resolution has passed, the city will now begin contacting stakeholders in San Patricio County about the annexation plans.
