PRESENTER: Presenter
Christopher J. Looney, AICP, Planning and Development Services Director
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SUBJECT: Title
Approval of the first reading of an ordinance amending the New Braunfels Code of Ordinances, Appendix D, Fee Schedule, by adding an Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) Release Petition filing fee.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning and Development Services
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Outside City Limits
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Staff Contact:
Matt Greene, Principal Planner
(830) 221-4053 | mgreene@newbraunfels.gov
Chapter 42 of the Texas Local Government Code (LGC) establishes and outlines the rules for Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). ETJ is that territory extending into the unincorporated area beyond the city limits where certain limited city standards can be applied (mainly subdivision platting rules). The ETJ is the unincorporated area a city could annex, therefore city rules are allowed to be extended to better prepare the area so that if annexed, development is not haphazard or disjointed. The stated policy in LGC 42.001 is “to promote and protect the general health, safety, and welfare of persons residing in and adjacent to the municipalities.”
In May of 2023, the Texas Legislature passed, and the Governor enacted Senate Bill No. 2038 (see SB 2038 in the Resource Links), allowing property owners to more easily remove their property from a municipality’s ETJ. The State statute also includes the procedures required for submitting and processing a petition for release from the ETJ. Upon receipt of a complete petition, the State statute requires the municipality to immediately release the area from the municipality’s ETJ.
Since enactment of the State statute, the City of New Braunfels has processed and approved 67 petitions, releasing approximately 7,200 acres from its ETJ as of June 17, 2025 (see webpage link to City of New Braunfels live ETJ Release Dashboard in the Resource Links).
ISSUE:
Development Fees, such as plan reviews, rezonings, zoning verification letters, and plat applications, just to name a few, are intended to cover the cost of the employee time spent so the taxpayers are not burdened with the cost to process these developer applications, some of which, including the one addressed in this agenda item, are for properties outside of the city limits.
Based on the amount of time spent by various city employees, staff estimates the current average cost to process an ETJ Release Petition to be equal to $200. This is also the same fee charged for processing comparable New Braunfels development applications. For this specific application, it requires a minimum of approximately 2.5 hours for an Assistant Planner and approximately 45 minutes for the GIS Manager and GIS Technician, to process the submittal, validate the application, review the request, update maps, issue the approval letter, notify the respective county, and close out the application. For applications submitted involving more complex property boundaries and legal descriptions, it can take added staff time to complete the process and often will require additional review by an Assistant City Attorney and the Principal Planner.
Staff researched and examined other Texas cities’ petition application fees for comparison. The results are as follows:
• Fort Worth…………$450
• Weatherford………$500
• Buda………………$800 plus GIS/technology fee
• Fredericksburg……$1,000
The following cities currently do not charge a fee to process a petition to release from the ETJ: Allen, Austin, Bryan, Boerne, Cedar Park, College Station, Conroe, Denton, Georgetown, Grand Prairie, Katy, Kyle, League City, Lewisville, McKinney, Pearland, Pflugerville, Plano, Round Rock, San Marcos, Schertz, Seguin, Sugar Land, Temple and Waco. (Please note, some of the metroplex cities listed above may not have ETJ.)
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☐Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☐Community Identity
☒Organizational Excellence ☐Community Well-Being ☐N/A
• Objective: Considering statutory and market-based factors, continue to diversify revenue streams to support long-term fiscal sustainability of the organization.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed development fee will cover the cost of staff time to process ETJ Release Petitions and relieve city taxpayers from the burden of cost for applications pertaining to the ETJ where such residents/property owners do not pay city taxes.
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the amendment adopting a fee for filing Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Release Petitions as a cost recovery measure in accordance with state statute.
Resource Links:
• Chapter 42 of the Texas Local Government Code: <https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.42.htm>
• Senate Bill 2038:
<https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB02038F.htm>
• New Braunfels Planning Reference Map:
Planning Reference Map <https://newbraunfels.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=65adb598a5be4171a5bbc1407a9bd30f>
• City of New Braunfels ETJ Release Dashboard Website: <https://newbraunfels.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/28dc5fd2071b453faecc2eb96f69944c>