Bill Would Nullify 27,000 Acres of Tree Ordinance

Editor's Note: Originally Posted on Sierra Club Alamo Website. 

A bill working its way through the Texas Senate would effectively nullify San Antonio's tree preservation ordinance on over 27,000 acres. There would be two separate geographic areas of nullification, which are shown in the maps below.

Green area is a 14,300 acre parcel of which ~80% is already developed. It is the Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley Annexation Parcel

Green area is a 13,000 acre parcel, much of which is undeveloped. It is the Lackland AFB and Medina Annex Annexation Parcel

SB 422 is Tied to Annexation

In November, 2018, the City of San Antonio (CoSA) held a special election. Voters living in the above areas could choose between annexation into the City or providing the City with the authority to regulate their areas as Military Protection Areas (MPAs). Residents in both areas chose the MPA option.

SB 422 says that if an annexation is rejected by residents, a person may not be fined or charged a fee for any 'activity' in the failed annexation area. This would nullify our tree ordinance by prohibiting the city from charging fees for:

1. destroying more than the allowable number of trees, or
2. failing to plant enough trees to meet the ordinance's canopy coverage requirement.

Item 1 is important in the Scenic Loop/Boerne Stage annexation area because it is heavily forested. Item 2 is important in the Loop 1604/US 90 area because much of it is pasture land with few trees, and developers in that area must plant a significant number of trees to comply with canopy coverage requirements.

Wiping Out Protections for Military Bases

It is likely the bill is intended to nullify CoSA initiatives to protect its military bases. When residents voted against annexation, they also chose to allow CoSA to enforce Military Protection Areas.

These areas "help protect the military mission through limited permitting requirements, inspections and enforcement imposing related fees, fines, and other charges in accordance with the Joint Land Use Study (JLUS)". SB 422 will nullify Military Protection Areas the residents agreed to.

Deregulating Development — Step One

In 2017, the Legislature passed a law requiring Texas cities, for the first time in history, to put annexations to a vote. This effectively froze San Antonio's city limits as of 2017, because people generally vote against additional taxation.

Once the remaining undeveloped areas of San Antonio's jurisdiction are built out, future land development will be subject only to the minimal rules the state allows counties to enforce. For example, counties aren't allowed to have tree preservation ordinances, zoning, and many land use controls that are allowed in cities.

Deregulating Development — Step Two

SB 422 is a "gotcha" bill that cleverly builds on step one. In 2017, when step one was passed, CoSA was far along in its process of annexing the parcels shown above.

In the middle of that process, the Legislature changed the rules of the game, now requiring a ballot measure. CoSA continued with its plan, hoping for a positive outcome, given that people in the area west of Lackland would benefit from $200 million in services that they wouldn't have to pay for. However, residents voted against annexation by large margins.

Taking advantage of anti-annexation sentiment, SB 422 builds on the 2017 legislation by deregulating any areas a city attempts, but fails, to annex . Note that SB 422 wouldn't just nullify the tree ordinance, but also any development codes involving a fee or fine for non-compliance. So aquifer protection, stormwater, parks dedication and many other ordinances could also be nullified.