City Council Holds Public Hearing on Potential Future Annexation

The first of two 30-minute public hearings was held on Monday concerning plans to annex three portions of land into Lubbock city limits.

Land currently being considered for annexation include a section called Area E in an official annexation document, located just west of Upland Avenue and north of the Marsha Sharp Freeway as it crosses into Wolfforth. A second piece of land called Area F is just north of Erskine Street and west of North Frankford Avenue. Three other portions of land are located on both sides of Interstate 27, bordered by East Regis Street to the south and Utah Street to the north.

Some complained of possible property tax increases and that annexation would be too expensive for them. Others raised questions on laws regarding current livestock and the possibility of future livestock. And some simply said they saw no upside to being annexed in the first place. One resident told the council that his family had built a house in 2016 specifically to be outside of city limits.

Other questions were raised regarding the possibility of storm water management, address changes. One resident complained of never being informed of the initial annexation meetings held in September and November of 2017.

Mayor Pro Tem Latrelle Joy of District 6, acknowledged during the meeting that residents had nothing to gain through annexation besides city services like police and fire protection, and that the move would be to grow Lubbock “. . . in an orderly fashion.”

The state Legislature did approve a bill in 2017 during the special session that would require large cities in Texas to hold a public vote before annexing their property. However, the new rule only covers cities with more than 500,000 citizens.