Some laws passed by the state Legislature have more impact than others. One such law, Senate Bill 2038, has had an immediate and profound effect. SB 2038 allows landowners on the outskirts of a city to de-annex themselves from that city, giving them the opportunity to benefit from less stringent regulations regarding development.
In the Austin area, this law has gained popularity, with over 1,000 properties already applying to be de-annexed from the city. Justin Sayers, a senior staff writer at the Austin Business Journal, mentioned that a wide range of properties, from big developments like Tesla’s Gigafactory to individual homes, have applied for de-annexation.
To understand how this law works, it’s important to know about extraterritorial jurisdictions, or ETJs. These are areas surrounding cities that the city may want to annex in the future. However, with the passage of this law, all annexations are now voluntary, giving landowners more control over the development of their properties.
Developers are particularly interested in this law as it allows them to bypass certain development processes and zoning regulations, speeding up project completion. On the other hand, cities are concerned about losing control over the growth and development in their areas.
Some cities have even taken legal action against this law, claiming it is unconstitutional. The city of Grand Prairie near Dallas filed a lawsuit challenging the law, with 20 cities, including Lockhart and Hutto in the Austin area, joining the lawsuit.
Looking ahead, it remains to be seen if lawmakers will make any changes to this law during the upcoming session starting in January. The Texas Senate Committee on Local Government has discussed possible tweaks to the law, with input from both cities and developers. However, the exact changes are yet to be determined.
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