Residents Voice Concerns Over Annexation

The City of La Feria City Commission held its regular meeting Tuesday, August 27th at 6:30 pm  to an even larger contingency of residents in attendance. Like the City Commission meeting held on August 13th, the specific agenda items of interest for this particular meeting included public hearings for areas designated for possible annexation to the city of La Feria.

The four areas identified for possible annexation are:

Rabb Road Annexation
Approximately 272 acres of land with its north, east and south boundary on the current city limit lines. The west boundary is the drainage ditch west of Rabb Road (AN-49), south of Business Highway 83, ad the west boundary of Citrus Grove Subdivision, north of Business Highway 83.

Kelly Drive Annexation
The general boundaries of which are between the south right-of-way line of US Business Highway 83 and the south boundary of Block 6, Beakley Subdivision, from existing city limits on the west (curve in Kelly Drive), to the west ROW line of White Ranch Road.

FM 506 Annexation
The northern boundary of this area is the south boundary of Citrus Village Subdivision. The eastern boundary is east of FM 506 right-of-way line (current city limits). The west boundary is the west boundary of FM 506 and the south boundary is the line between Blocks 23 and 25 of the Minnesota Texas Land and Irrigation Co. Subdivision.

West Business 83 Annexation
The northern boundary of this area is the current city limit line. North of Business 83, the west boundary is the eastern right-of-way line of Mile 3 East and Kubiski road. The east boundary is the eastern ROW of FM 2556. South of Business 83, the west boundary is the eastern ROW line of FM 2556 and the east boundary is the east boundary of L&D Ranch Subdivision.

This particular commission meeting signaled the second round of public hearings for each of the aforementioned areas with the addition of initial public hearings for the land on both sides of Falt Lane, west of Rabb Road located on the northwest part of La Feria and the land from the existing city limits on the west side of the city near Expressway 83, south along Mile 3 East, Kubiski, and Bixby Roads, and the west side of FM 2556, to U.S. Business 83.

With Mayor Steve Brewer away on business and not able to attend, the difficult job of maintaining order for the proceedings rested squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Pro-Tem Commissioner Lori Weaver. City Planning and Community Development Director Irene Szedlmayer would give a brief overview of an area to be annexed, and then Commissioner Weaver would open the public hearing with residents eager to voice their concerns on the proposed annexation.

Many of the same concerns raised at the city meeting on the 13th of August were raised again: fears of restrictions on land usage once annexation is in place, dissatisfaction with the level of services offered by the City of La Feria’s law enforcement and fire prevention entities, new taxation as a result of being incorporated into the city, and the inability to continue raising livestock after these areas become part of the city.

Though city leaders tried to keep the discussion exclusive to each area being discussed at a given moment but citizens were so eager to voice their opinions and strong disapproval of the proposed annexation that residents of one area would try to speak during a discussion of a different area. Many times during the proceedings the discussion would be derailed by the intricacies of individual cases as residents used the forum to discuss their personal circumstances and how the annexation would affect them.
The commissioners and city staff again tried their best to assuage the public’s fears and outline how the city’s annexation of these areas would benefit residents. Agricultural use of land could continue with the signing of a development agreement with the city.The city would not tax that land for two years. Residents would not be forced to use city’s water, sewage or trash services as long as their existing services meet county regulations. The commission often had to repeat answers to questions that had already been asked and Commissioner Weaver had to call order several times.

During the hearing for the Kelley Drive area one resident insisted on an answer, “Why? Why would the City of La Feria want to annex us?”

“There’s one thing for sure, the city is not doing the annexation to collect taxes,” said La Feria City Manager Sunny Philip. “We have never taken for granted what our responsibilities are.”

“There has already been an investment made by the community. If the city doesn’t annex the area to properly develop it, it won’t grow very well.”

He went on to say that the action the city is proposing will only increase the value of the properties that will be annexed which will lead to even greater opportunity for the area as  the city continues to grow.

He sighted improvements to the Rabb Road area as a result of residents being stuck there during Hurricane Dolly as an example of how the city is making the improvements to the areas they intend to annex.
“We want to deliver more than what we promise,” Philip said.

Recommendations by staff on the annexations will be at the September 17 council meeting and the commission will have until December 16 to take action on the matter.